Gate: Thus the Atomic 4 Fought There
by lightning guy with cancer
Summary: In another world, WW2 was much more devastating. 200 million dead. 21 years long. But from the ashes, the Atomic 4, the wartime alliance consisting of the US, UK, Canada, and Australia have rebuilt, and are now the world's sole superpowers, maintaining a nuclear & orbital monopoly. Then the Gate opened up in New York, and in canon Ginza. How will the 3 worlds interact?
1. A Brief History of the World

**NOTE: This world's history is not my creation. The backstory comes from a magnificent alternate history scenario called the Anglo/American - Nazi War, written by user CalBear on an alternate history forum. I also do ****not own Gate or any other related media. This is also my first story.**

* * *

**A Brief History of the World**

**1942** \- The Wehrmacht wins the Battle of Stalingrad after Hitler declines Mussolini's request for reinforcements in North Africa. The divisions that were supposed to form the Afrika Korps instead fight in Russia. North Africa falls to the Allies much earlier than in our history.

However, due to additional men being at Stalingrad, the Germans are able to seize resupply points in the city, isolating the Soviet units in the city and eventually capturing the city.

This has disastrous consequences for the USSR as Stalin purges his generals and assumes direct control of the USSR's military operations. Zhukov and Timoshenko, both brilliant military leaders, are executed for "crimes against the state."

**1943** \- After several disastrous counter-offensives which result in nearly 1 million Soviet casualties and very few German casualties, Stalin dies of a heart attack. A brief power struggle then ensues, which ends when Foreign Minister Vyaschlev Molotov takes power. He immediately signs a peace treaty with Germany, ceding all territory up to the Ural Mountains and allows for German material to travel through the USSR to aid Japan.

The other Allied Powers soon realize that they cannot directly invade Europe with the USSR gone. Small skirmishes on the Iranian border cement this belief, as Allied forces send nearly 200 bombers to take out 2 Panzer divisions. In the following months, temporary ceasefires and prisoner exchanges would occur. Until 1954, there would officially be no offensive actions conducted by either side. This period is marked by several spark-ups of violence, however. This period is known internationally as the 'Warm War.'

**1946** \- The final defeat of Japan occurs. Instead of using nuclear weapons, the US blockades the island and firebombs most of its cities until they break. If they did use nuclear weapons, the Nazis would find out that the nuclear bomb was possible. The US also sends a brigade to occupy Vladivostok and the surrounding oblast, denying any resources to Japan. In the following years, the US Vladivostok occupation zone massively increases, eventually swallowing up all of Far Eastern Siberia north of Manchuria.

**1947** \- Massive Allied bombing raid over Europe. Most notably, Paris was included on the list of targets as well as other German cities. The French population firmly cements themselves in Axis camp. The Free French are seen as traitors. This would have disastrous consequences later on, as the French would fight to the end along with the Nazis.

**1954** \- Nazi Germany attempts to launch an air raid on New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Britain on St. Patrick's Day. Over 600 German bombers are lost during the attempt to cross the Atlantic and attack US cities. Southern England is devastated by the German bombers, however. The US suffers over 1000 civilian deaths. The Warm War ends, and the Hot War begins.

In the following years, the Allies would undertake massive air and naval offensives in Europe to destroy the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine.

**1958** \- D-day is launched. American, Commonwealth, Filipino, Vietnamese, Brazilian, and Argentine troops land on the beaches of northern France. The campaign to liberate Europe begins. This period of warfare would be the bloodiest in human history, as biological and chemical weapons would be unleashed en masse. Nuclear weapons are detonated over nearly 20 German and French cities. Paris, Berlin, and Nuremberg are rendered "dead zones" due to the amount of biological weapons in them and are walled off from the rest of the world.

**1960** \- Final surrender of Nazi Germany. Over 200 million people would die in WW2, as the Holocaust continued on for much longer, coupled with indiscriminate use of weapons of mass destruction. Germany is split into several different administrative regions and is permanently occupied by the United Nations. A strong "never-again" sentiment would shape the UN's doctrine. Any violation of the peace treaty by the Germans is seen as an act of war on ALL signatories.

**1961** \- Full independence of India is confirmed nearly a year after Germany's defeat.

The world's strongest nations would be the following, in no particular order: the US, UK, Canada, India and Australia. Collectively, this alliance is known as the A4 (Atomic 4) because these countries are the only ones in the world to possess nuclear weapons, besides India.

The UK annexes northern France after demands from the populace there. All of Europe except for Spain, Portugal, Finland, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden, and the UK, would have tremendously low life expectancies and HDI scores post-war. The French government immediately drifts away from the allies, calling for the return of ALL former French territory, including their colonies. This declaration is seen as laughable, due to the fact that Algeria and Morocco are now key A4 allies.

**1965** \- The Republic of China is overthrown by Nationalist revolutionaries and begins experimenting with biotechnology and bioweapons. Commonwealth and UN enclaves in China (Hong Kong, Macao, and Shanghai) immediately seal the border between them and China, and in the following years, would be ordered shoot to kill any refugees attempting to cross.

The UN in this world flatly states that is for democracies only and is practically an extension of the A4's will.

**1967** \- Korea enters a civil war. China sends support to nationalist revolutionaries in Korea. The A4 sends a task force to intervene in Korea.

**1969** \- Estimates state that the US military in this world accounts for nearly 65 percent of the world's combat power. 15 percent of the world's remaining military power is possessed by Canada, Australia, and the UK, all A4 members.

Goldwater Doctrine is announced by US President Goldwater. **_"It will be the policy of the United States to react with disproportionate and overwhelming force to any attack or threat of attack."_**

**1971** \- The US launches a full-scale invasion of Iran after they announce that they will nationalize their oil industry. The Shah of Iran goes into hiding and is succeeded by his son, who immediately cancels the nationalization plan.

**1972** \- Tired with the war in Korea, the US deploys a tactical nuclear weapon and destroys the Chinese supply convoy to the nationalists. The war immediately ends. This brash and bold movement eventually forms the A4's doctrine:**_ They do not care about the public's opinion. They will do what they need to do for the greater good, by any means necessary._**

India detonates her first nuclear weapon. In the following years, India's nuclear stockpile would grow. They are the only non-A4 nation to possess nukes.

**1975** \- US and UK bomber squadrons target Liberia after the country invades Sierra Leone because of border disputes. Liberia is immediately overthrown by A4 funded rebels.

**1978** \- The US places nuclear weapons in orbit. US-occupied Far Eastern Siberia is granted full statehood, as the new state of West Alaska, angering the rump USSR. After WW2, this USSR also never got European Russia back, which is now a constitutional monarchy backed by the A4. Formerly the world's largest country, the USSR is now a practically landlocked frozen Siberian wasteland. Their only access to the sea, the Arctic Ocean, is constantly frozen.

**1982 **\- Maglev train line opens up in the US, quickly killing off domestic airlines.

**1987** \- The US and UK land men on the moon.

**1989** \- India lands a man on the moon. It is notable that India (which includes Pakistan and Bangladesh) is the only nation capable of standing up to the A4.

**1992** \- German neo-nationalist movement begins gaining traction in Germany. In the following years, they would become immensely popular.

**1997** \- After years of construction, the US builds a lunar base. Mass drivers helped immensely with the construction, especially the one located in Saipan.

**2001** \- Second American lunar base is constructed. Mass drivers are also built on the moon, to make supplying the bases much faster. Nuclear weapons are placed on the moon, for defense purposes.

**2007** \- German neo-nationalists launch carefully planned attacks on UN and Polish occupation forces in the city of Stettin on April 11th. After 5 days of fighting, in which the UN has CLEARLY BEGAN BEATING BACK THE REBELS, all UN forces suddenly withdraw from Stettin in the noon.

The following day, Stettin is subjected to orbital bombardment from U.S. operated mass drivers located on the moon. 3 ceramic objects acting as relativistic kill vehicles were launched at the city, and each impact results in roughly 58 kilotons of explosive power. The city of Stettin is virtually wiped off the map, with 3 quarters of its 275,000 citizens dying.

Uprising ends on April 19th after final surrender of neo-nationalists to Philippine occupation forces. (Additionally, Vietnam and the Philippines are immense powerhouses in this timeline, as Japan and Korea were devastated by war, with US aid to Japan being significantly reduced because of the war with Germany). UN traces weapon shipments to German neo-nationalists back to China.

**2008** \- A4 declares that ALL future orbital launches must be done with A4 operated launchers. In the same statement, the A4 declares that any unauthorized orbital launch above 65 miles will be seen as an act of war on all A4 members. The fate of India's space program is uncertain.

**2012** \- The A4 launches a mission to Mars. Planning for a Mars base begins.

**2013** \- The Gate opens in New York City, the heart of the American superpower. Across space and time, a Gate also opens in Ginza.


	2. Prologue

**New York City**

**April 17, 2013**

Corporal Johnson was a simple man. There was not that much to his life. Sure, he was in the US Army, but he never really considered himself a soldier. After all, he just barely passed basic training, and scout training was a living hell for him, but he managed to pass it despite the odds. The only reason he joined was to keep up the old family tradition of serving the United States. His grandpa breached the Atlantic Wall while his father fought in Iran. Originally, he was going to be deployed to Stettin as a recon unit in the city but a quick and decisive orbital bombardment stopped that. Now, he was walking in Times Square to the local game shop to get a copy of the latest Battlestorm game. Tourists from several foreign countries had basically filled the Square and it was impossible to walk through this sea of people. Regardless, Johnson pressed forwards.

_Wonder if the campaign in this one isn't as shitty as the last one,_ he thought. Battlestorm 3's campaign involved an Allied special operations team taking out a secret Nazi military base that was developing an atomic bomb. When it was released, it was widely shunned by critics for its poor character development, broken shooting mechanics and its extremely slow gameplay. Johnson joined in with the critics, despite the fact that he played the game for 7 hours in one sitting and proceeded to proclaim how great the game was.

His thought process was soon interrupted as he noticed something growing from the corner of his eye. A palace shaped object soon started to appear in front of One Times Square, obstructing the building behind it.

_What the fuck,_ thought Johnson. Everyone in Times Square had the same thought, as they all looked in awe at the translucent palace slowing phasing into existence. After a few minutes, the translucent palace fully manifested. A black, plane-like mouth soon appeared in front of the palace. People were snapping photos and recording videos with their smartphones, thinking that this was a spectacular phenomenon. How wrong they would be.

A few seconds after the mouth opened, legions of Roman-style soldiers on horseback appeared to simply exit the palace. The soldiers stopped for a moment, some opening their mouths as they tried to take in the colossus of the city before them. Flashing lights and advertisements continuously bombarded the men's eyes, with some even covering them due to how bright the signs were. A man, appearing to be some sort of commander as his uniform was a bit different to the rest, shouted out something in what appeared to be a weird garble of English, Italian, Spanish, and German. Then all hell broke loose.

However, what the people of this world could not have known is that the same thing was occurring across space and time in Ginza, Tokyo.

* * *

Legion Legate Cervi was laughing as his soldiers slaughtered the defenseless civilians on Times Square. Blood literally coated 42nd Street as hundreds of people were killed within a few minutes. His men enjoyed themselves, raping and pillaging the city before them. Nearby, a pigman had just stabbed an NYPD patrol officer straight in the heart and proceeded to eat the remains of the man. In the first 15 minutes of the Battle of Manhattan, the NYPD suffered dozens of casualties as officers found that they were fighting off thousands with only their sidearms.

These people are pathetic. They know nothing of war and how to fight back. They should be glad that the glorious Saderan Empire is annexing them, thought the Legate. He proceeded to direct his men towards several of these horse-less carriages and tried to puncture through the steel of the cars. His men were executing civilians begging for mercy or appeared to beg for mercy, as he could not understand their filthy savage language. None of the civilians' requests were granted, as a Saderan cavalryman laughed and dragged a woman off with his comrades into the Gate.

_A worthy reward for my soldiers_ thought Cervi. After all, his men were battle-hardened veterans of the War of the Bunnies and hadn't gotten their share of slaves from Zorzal's conquest. A few barbarian women from this world wouldn't hurt.

In the corner of his vision, Legate Cervi noticed that several more horse-less carriages had appeared, but instead of flashing red and blue lights and sounds, they were much bulkier and were completely black. Several men poured out of the back of the carriage, each carrying a strange black item. Cervi inferred that they were probably crossbows, due to the way the men held them. Unfortunately, their wagons appeared to be set up to block off the advance of his legion. Suddenly, he heard several loud explosions. Cervi looked around frantically, only to see that around 5 of his men were dead, their horses wildly running away. That would be the last thing Cervi saw, as another 5.56mm round fired from the responding SWAT team soon penetrated through his skull and hit his brain stem.

* * *

**Social Media on April 17, 2013**

_The video shows a man dressed in a hoodie wandering around the city, trying sweets and visiting stores. It is just a normal vlog until you go 5 minutes and 54 seconds into the video._

"Look at this cool palace that appeared in the middle of the city!"

The camera shows a translucent palace directly in front of One Times Square, and several people looking at the thing in awe.

"Anyways guys, I don't know what the hell it is but it sure looks damn cool! I'll see you guys next time on the channel! New uploads every week!"

Immediately after he says this, John turns the camera to his face to show him standing in front of the palace. The video ends.

**John772 - Daily Vlogs & More, Youtube**

"What the fuck's going on in Times Square? I'm a few blocks away and there are literally hundreds of people running and screaming something about monsters and soldiers? The fuck?"

**Yoloswag69420, Twitter**

"DO NOT APPROACH TIMES SQUARE. A MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT HAS BEEN REPORTED. EMERGENCY SERVICE UNITS ARE EN ROUTE TO THE SCENE."

**NYPDNews, Twitter**

* * *

Johnson was running for his life and noticed a dazed police officer sitting on the sidewalk idly. The police officer noticed Johnson and said nothing. Up ahead he noticed a Mcdonalds building crowded with scared men, women, and children. He took a closer glance and was shocked by the barbarity he saw. A man was being decapitated in front of the cashier by another man dressed in strange ancient armor while his other friend was busy raping the cashier herself as the diners watched, shocked.

Enraged, he grabbed the police officer's service pistol. The safety was turned off and he methodically walked over to the restaurant. Taking aim at the soldiers, he slowly inhaled and exhaled. After that, the trigger was squeezed. 2 rounds were fired in quick succession by him, each bursting through the glass and forming spiderweb patterns. Then the bullets found themselves in each Saderans' heads.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE! RUN!" yelled Johnson. Everyone in the restaurant complied and soon exited through the back door, running to safety. It had only been around 20 minutes and scenes exactly like this were playing across the island of Manhattan.

Johnson looked behind his shoulder and ran back to the Patrol Officer, but he was too late. The officer had already disappeared and a dragon had landed, its rider examining the hat that the man dropped. Another bullet was fired from the 9mm pistol, killing the rider. Johnson attempted to shoot the dragon but his rounds were obviously not doing anything. The whole magazine was emptied but rounds still ricocheted off the dragon's tough hide. It looked straight at Johnson. He ran for his life once more.

* * *

A man dressed in tactical gear was firing his fully automatic rifle into the horde of men on horseback. Nearly 13 police officers were already dead, and one of his men currently had an arrow lodged in his shoulder and was in a hospital a few blocks away. 8th Avenue was a warzone, as 50 police officers fought with tooth and nail against the legion before them.

"THERE'S TOO MANY OF 'EM! WE'RE GONNA GET OVERRUN!" yelled another member of the ESU. By that point, the ESU had already gunned down hundreds of men yet the enemy kept coming. Morale was on the verge of breaking as things that should not have existed, for example, pig-men and dragons, were assaulting their position on the road. For several times the men had to duck behind cover as the dragon strafed their armored cars with some form of fire. Though it wasn't effective, the armor on their vehicles wasn't going to last forever.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE REINFORCEMENTS?!" asked another officer nearby.

"THEY'RE ALREADY ENGAGING THE ENEMY ELSEWHERE!" replied the team commander. When he was briefed a few minutes earlier, he did not know that he was fighting off thousands of men! Hell, they just said it was a mass casualty incident, not as bad as St. Patrick's Day 1954!

And this was the thing that stumped the commander. For all intents and purposes, these men and creatures had come straight out of a fantasy book. This should not have been happening at all. Terrorists with rifles were supposed to be shooting at him, not orcs charging at him!

"RELOADING!" yelled another man to his right. It had been several minutes and the officers were shooting at the cavalry with all they had: assault rifles and pistols. Regardless, it wouldn't be enough to stop the whole charge. Some people started throwing smoke grenades down the crowded street, temporarily disrupting the Romans and allowing for continued automatic fire.

Out of the corner of his vision, a man dressed in jeans and a black shirt was running towards them.

"GIVE ME A GUN! I'M AN OFF-DUTY SOLDIER!" yelled Johnson. Johnson pulled out his wallet and hastily showed the officers his military ID.

The team commander ran over and gave Johnson a shotgun, normally meant for door-breaching, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was stopping these bastards. Racking the slide and loading 7 shells in, Johnson then aimed. 12 gauge buckshot exited the barrel and its pellets killed a rider on horseback, his body slumping over to the side.

* * *

**Washington, D.C.**

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY 'NEW YORK'S BEING ATTACKED?!" yelled the President at a monitor in the situation room.

"Sir, casualties are estimated to be in the thousands. This thing is as bad as the St. Patrick's Day Raids. The NYPD have cordoned off Times Square but they're losing ground every minute. There's thousands of them!" replied the monitor, or rather General Harrison.

"Where's the National Guard?" asked the President.

"They're en route, sir. ETA 3 hours," replied General Harrison.

"3 hours?"

"Yes sir, the live ammunition is located at Fort Dix, a few miles south of New York. There's nothing I can do unless you want me to send troops in barehanded. Our aircraft are able to reach New York within 25 minutes though, sir."

"Well, can the NYPD hold them?"

"Yes, but 8th Avenue is practically a warzone. They have a SWAT team blockading the street but they only have so much ammunition. Commissioner Kelly has ordered reinforcements to be sent there but we don't know their current status."

"Do we even know who we're being attacked by? Who the hell are they?" chimed the Secretary of Defense, currently sitting beside the President in the situation room.

"We don't know who it is, but photos have been taken at the scene. I'll show them. I do have to say that these images are in no way doctored or edited at all." said the monitor.

The large screen in front of the table soon lit up, and images of Roman soldiers on horseback stabbing a man, a dragon attacking an armored SWAT car, a Roman sexually assaulting a woman and other acts of barbarity flashed across the screen.

The President was absolutely enraged. Everyone in that room was. At that moment, they weren't looking at some fantasy movie stills. This was real. Hundreds of their people had been killed, or worse.

"I want you to use everything you got to kill those motherfuckers," replied President Orris coldly.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

If only the Saderan Empire knew they were attacking the same people who unleashed nearly 20 nukes over Germany. The same people who launched a massive invasion of a tiny backwater African nation just because of a border incident. The same people who glassed a whole city due to the actions of a few hundred extremists. On that day, they also attacked another world.

The Empire didn't know it then, but they were already dead.

* * *

**New York City**

Sergeant Dorbel was not having a good day. In fact, it was a rather horrible day. The NYPD had never suffered losses like this before. His SWAT team would be overrun at any second, even with the help of the ex-military man. The truth was, they were all running out of ammunition. All of them were down to their last magazine, hell some cops were even firing their service pistols at the never-ending horde. Dorbel himself was down to his last magazine on his assault rifle. While the NYPD had already sealed off the main roads out of Times Square and had successfully cordoned off and evacuated most buildings within a 5-mile radius, if this blockade failed, the Romans would successfully breach the cordon and wreak even more havoc. Up ahead, Johnson noticed that several archers were reloading their bows and aiming at the sky. A massive barrage of arrows soon appeared above.

"GET TO COVER!" yelled the Corporal as he ducked under a SWAT car. The rest of the officers there followed his orders, finding cover by crawling under cars, entering the cars themselves, or running into the nearby skyscrapers. Dorbel was in a state of shock and did not hear Johnson.

"SIR, GET TO-" the chubby officer was interrupted mid-sentence as an arrow suddenly appeared through his police hat. His body slumped over and collapsed on the ground. The police sergeant could only look in horror as the rest of the arrow barrage hit their targets, mainly the windows of some skyscrapers and the street. This was followed by a thunderous roar from the soldiers a few meters in front of the archers, running and charging on horseback.

"WE CAN'T STOP THEM! WE'RE OUT OF AMMUNITION COMPLETELY!" hollered an officer, currently shooting at the charging men and orcs with his sidearm. A giant ogre a few meters in front had been shot several times but the ogre simply shrugged off the shots and continued walking. A few seconds later and it began charging."

"HOLY FUCK! EVERYONE TARGET THAT OGRE!"

Being the nearest one to Dorbel, Johnson pointed his semi-automatic shotgun at the rampaging beast. 3 shots were fired rapidly into the hulking beast's head. Although the ogre's hide was very tough, 3 buckshot shells to the head still dazed the thing. This was followed by several 5.56mm bursts into the creature's head, finally killing it. The thing was almost like a tank.

Up ahead, the police officers noticed that the legions were... different. A purple forcefield had surrounded the front of the charge and deflected everything short of a .50 cal trying to penetrate it. An officer had already been injured by a ricochet from his own bullet.

"THEY'VE GOT FUCKIN' MAGIC!" barked Dorbel.

Dorbel began trying to think of a way to disable a mage, then realized something. Just because it deflected bullets did not mean that it blocked any other forms of energy, such as light and sound. And you know what produces light and sound? A flashbang.

Sgt. Eric Dorbel then pulled out a flashbang from his vest pocket and threw it at the mage. The stun grenade detonated in front of the mage and instantly blinded him. The mage went from seeing 3 black armored cars to just seeing white while his eardrums had exploded.

"THE FORCE-FIELD'S GOIN' DOWN!"

"EVERYONE, TARGET THAT MAGE!"

Everyone heeded his orders and several officers mag-dumped their pistols into the mage. By the end of the firing, the mage resembled a bloody pulp. Sudden panic began to take root in the charge up ahead, as their only means of defense was gone: the purple forcefield went down. Some soldiers in front stopped briefly, gripped by fear, only to have the political commissars behind them stab the soldiers straight through the heart. Some had yelled at the Saderan cavalrymen to press the attack. And press the attack they did, as several hundred horses, goblins, orcs, and humans began running.

"Oh fuck."

"WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH AMMUNITION TO STOP THE CHARGE!"

"WHERE ARE THE REINFORCEMENTS!"

Confused shouts of panic filled the air until a low whirring sound had appeared above. Everyone looked up, to see a single attack helicopter. The Saderan cavalrymen stopped their horses, glancing at the machine above.

"YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO EVACUATE FROM THE PREMISES. 10. 9. 8…" blurted a deafening speaker on the helicopter.

Dorbel, Johnson, and the rest of the police task force began sprinting in the opposite direction from the helicopter.

Then, the 6 barreled autocannon on the bottom of the helicopter began rotating rapidly. Several hundred 20mm rounds soon spewed out of it, each aimed at the legion. Thousands of men quickly turned into a bloody mess, similar to tomato paste, while the dragons above were targeted by jet fighters. Windows, hit by stray autocannon fire shattered and showered glass on the currently panicking legions, adding to the body count. Hot brass showered the armored cars below. Some dragon riders never even knew what hit them, because the air to air missiles was usually fired from hundreds of meters away.

Dorbel and his men had never been so glad to see a helicopter before.

* * *

Count Formal could obviously tell when a rout had happened. After all, he didn't get to the rank of Legate without actually learning, unlike some corrupted people in the Empire. As he sat in his temporary command camp in the center of Times Square, he pondered if he was ever going to see his family again. The other side's city had been colossal, its buildings easily dwarfing any of Sadera's. A thought suddenly made its way through his brain.

_If the people here are capable of such architectural marvels without the help of magic, what else could they do? Could they kill me in the blink of an eye?_

After all, if he died, Myui would be on her own leading the city of Italica. An eleven-year-old girl did not deserve that much stress. Hell, no one did. Formal sipped his drink meanwhile, frowning as he saw one of his soldiers 'enjoying' one of the other side's women. Her shouts of pain resonated across the busy camp, disturbing Formal. He himself had been a byproduct of rape and was often bullied and even had his arm snapped as a kid when the other kids found out. Formal was a genuinely good man, something that can't be said for most of the Empire's people. His thought process was soon interrupted by a frantic panting messenger running into his camp.

"SIR, I BRING THE MOST TERRIBLE NEWS! CERVI'S LEGION HAS BEEN COMPLETELY ANNIHILATED!" yelled the panicking messenger. The man's face was stained red, concerning Formal.

"Where is Leonidas's legion then?"

"LEONIDAS HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY! HIS LEGION HAS BEEN COMPROMISED BY THE WHITE SMOKE THAT THE ENEMY FIRED AT THEM!"

"What of the other legions and our dragons?"

"ALL OF THEM HAVE BEEN WIPED OUT! THE 3RD LEGION IS DOWN TO 10 MEN, CURRENTLY RETREATING! THE IRON WARBIRDS OF THIS WORLD HAVE COMPLETELY ANNIHILATED OUR AIRBORNE FORCES!"

Formal felt true panic and fear as he had just learned that his dragon force was completely wiped out. Sadera's dragon riders were among the best in their world, with even enemy elite troops scared of them. There was an old myth that said that just 4 dragons had subjugated the whole of the ancient Kingdom of Ictan. But this was not the time to be remembering myths, as 3 legions had been wiped out to nearly a man. Seeing no other options, Formal ordered the only thing he could order. A retreat.

"I've heard enough. We've been routed. I'm ordering a fullscale retreat."

"BUT SIR, WE CAN STILL BEAT THEM! THE EMPIRE IS GLORI-"

The poor messenger never quite got to finish his sentence as several hundred high-caliber machine gun rounds ripped the camp apart, instantly killing Formal and the rest of the legionnaires in Times Square. For Count Formal and his men, it was the end. For the 3 worlds, it was just the beginning.

* * *

**Zorzal's Palace**

**Date Unknown**

Mary woke up, only to find a gag bound over her mouth, and a blindfold obstructing her vision. The rhythmic clattering of the horseshoes on the ground had indicated to her that she was in a wagon and on the move. Her hands were tied together, but she still managed to slightly pull down her blindfold, only to see 4 women, 1 with bunny ears, and 2 men, who were also gagged, tied and blindfolded. Additionally, all of them had been roughed up in one way or another, as bruises and cuts almost formed a sort of pattern on their bodies.

"HELP!" screamed Mary. The wagon stopped abruptly and she saw the silhouettes of 3 men walking up to the wagon. Off in the distance, Prince Zorzal ran over to the wagon, annoyed by the screaming.

Zorzal soon opened up the flap behind the wagon and got to see his new slaves. Licking his lips hungrily, he began to imagine what we would do to them.

For Mary, it was a fate crueler than death. She had been kidnapped by the Imperial Scouts sent to survey the area a few days before the initial incursion, and she did not know where her family was. Now, she was a slave.

* * *

**CLASSIFIED LOCATION**

**April 18, 2013**

Leonidas woke up in a cold sweat, nearly hitting his head against the back of the chair he was sitting in. On his arm, he noticed that a small incision and hole was on his arm, precisely matching up with his veins.

_Did they inject poison in me?_

As he slowly came into his senses, a dull synthetic light from the ceiling above came into his vision.

Where the hell am I? thought Leonidas. Glancing around the room, he noticed that the walls were completely white and that there was a metal table in front of him. On the table was an opened book filled with seemingly random characters that he had never seen before. Confused, he examined the paper more closely to see that there were several images of his men on the piece of paper. These drawings were so detailed and accurate that there was no way a scribe drew them. Additionally, there was no way a scribe could have drawn his men as they were in the middle of a war zone in a densely packed urban area.

A creak came from the door to the side of him, and a man in an immaculate black suit walked in slowly with a briefcase. Sliding another chair out of the table, the man-in-black took a seat. The leather briefcase was placed on the table and he opened it. A bright glowing steel laptop came out of it.

A steel book? thought Leonidas as he saw the laptop.

"Where are you from?" asked the man in broken, albeit understandable, Saderan.

"I come from the-" Leonidas paused, knowing full well he was not supposed to give an enemy agent information, but he felt his resolve weakening. After all, what did he have to gain in keeping secrets?

"Empire."

"How strong is your Empire?"

"The strongest. The Saderan Empire is the largest nation in Falmart, and has several vassal kingdoms who obey its will as well."

"What is Falmart?"

"The continent the Empire is located on. The only continent in our world. Some crazy mages say that there is a second continent somewhere on the other side of the planet, but we all know that is not true."

"Mages?" Mike's eyebrows perked up as if they were dumbfounded.

"Mages are skilled people who are trained in the art of magic. It takes years to learn it, and even longer to master it. Magic can be used in a lot of ways, for example, you can heal someone with it, or you can throw fireballs at your enemies."

Mechanical clicking was heard from the laptop once again with Mike's fingers working it like it was magic.

"How many soldiers does your Empire have? What is its population as well?"

"Roughly a million soldiers, and around 100 million people."

The man stopped for a moment, typing something into the tablet, then continued with the questions. He asked several questions about the Empire's capabilities, military strength, additional magic, religions, etc. By the end of the day, the intelligence officer had known nearly everything about the Empire. He was appalled by the mass slavery present in the Empire but he had to still do his job.

"Thank you for answering these questions. Is there anything you would like?" replied the intelligence officer.

"I want to be free."

Interrogator Mike Smith could only smirk as he answered the request.

"Denied."

Leonidas slumped back into his chair. There was no way he was getting out of here in the foreseeable future. They would probably kill him now.

Mike watched the man slump back into the chair. He soon realized a titanic opportunity was presenting itself on a silver platter.

"Leonidas, how would you like to work for us?" Mike smirked as he asked the question.

"Never."

"We currently have 100 of your men in rooms exactly like this. If you do not comply, then we will have to... dispose... of them."

Mike was bluffing but he had to play the cards right. Reports were saying that these Saderans were highly patriotic and that one of the interrogators had nearly been strangled by the soldiers.

Seeing no other choice, Leonidas decided to accept the deal.

"How can I trust you?"

Right after Leonidas asked his question, a loud clatter was heard. Turning his attention to the source of the sound, located at the center of the table, he saw a bag full of Gold bars, silver bars, diamonds.

Mike smiled at Leonidas.

* * *

In the immediate aftermath of the Manhattan attacks, the United Nations was in full panic mode. An enemy attack had just occurred in the heart of the strongest nation in the world, despite the fact that there was no way any enemy force could have invaded it. Soon, scientists traced the invasion back to the translucent palace. Many people wanted the whole island of Manhattan to be evacuated and turned into a massive military base, but cooler heads prevailed. If the whole of Manhattan was to be evacuated, the US economy would be hurt immensely as the Wall Street Stock Exchange would essentially be useless. Instead, a base of operations was set up in Times Square, with all buildings within a mile radius being evacuated. Barbed wire, machine gun nests, and walls were constructed to block the roads coming out of Times Square, and a no-fly zone was imposed over the Square as well. One Times Square itself was the headquarters of the base of operations, constantly guarded by snipers and heavily armed guards. As for the Gate itself, 4 20 foot tall walls around 4 feet thick were constructed around the Gate, as well as a dome on top to completely mask the building. It is notable that the walls used to cover the palace were of the same design as the ones used to guard the Berlin Quarantine Zone. Corporal Dylan Johnson was promoted to Sergeant and was given the Soldier's Medal for his brave actions in directing the evacuation of several dozen civilians, as well as risking his life to shoot at the Saderan cavalrymen and assisting the NYPD in blocking off 8th Avenue. Many news outlets branded him as "The Savior of Manhattan" after camera footage of him in civilian clothes shooting at the Saderans along with the NYPD went viral and hit several news stations. The media rapidly divulged themselves into Johnson's life, something which he did not appreciate, and found out several weeks later that he was an Army RSTA specialist who had a deathly fear of parachutes. Johnson did not respond when asked for an interview.

A body count was conducted a day after the battle, and over 1,145 bodies in various states of mutilation were discovered, while an additional 12 people were marked as missing, likely having been kidnapped. As the monsters attacked early in the morning, aka rush hour, casualties were lower than what the city was expecting, which was upwards of several thousand. It is currently the deadliest enemy action in the continental United States, surpassing even the March 17th bombing raids by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Several foreign nationals were also killed or captured, including 13 Canadians, 8 British, and 3 Australian nationals. 7 Indians and 4 Polish nationals were also killed during the attacks.

Some hot-headed politicians in Congress called for the destruction of the Gate, including notable Freedom Party* Congressional Representative Paul Jackson, but President Orris reasoned that if the Gate was destroyed, another attack could pop up somewhere across the world. That could not be allowed to happen. Several contingency plans were drawn up to enter the Gate, some even detailing massive nuclear saturation attacks on the world, but conventional means were preferred. After all, this was a pre-industrial society. Additionally, if this world had any valuable resources, the US would just be shooting itself in the foot. The President asked Congress for a declaration of war. None opposed it.

The US ultimately decided to send an expeditionary force through the Gate, along with a regiment-sized UN task force, consisting of mostly Commonwealth and Polish units. An Indian infantry company was also allowed to accompany the expeditionary force, as 7 Indian nationals were also killed. Anything else and the American public would be outraged. In a few weeks, the Falmart Expeditionary Force would be sent through the Gate. In a very similar world, the JSDF was also preparing to send troops through the Gate, accompanied by US spec-ops and intelligence units.

* * *

**Washington, D.C.**

**April 18, 2013**

President Orris walked up to the podium in his black suit and blue tie. As he looked over the crowd of thousands in front of the White House, he felt a surge of patriotism through his mind. He was about to deliver the world's most important speech. Millions of people, from the Moon to Mars, were watching this broadcast. It would mark the beginning of a new era for the world.

"My fellow Americans, I have come to inform you about the despicable attacks on New York." Orris paused for a moment, glancing over the paper.

"But first, we must start with some history. Nearly 60 years ago, our great nation was also attacked in a horrendous orgy of flame and fury." Of course, everyone knew he was mentioning the St. Patrick's Day Raids.

"Despite this, we have rebuilt and emerged as the strongest nation in the world. A new era dawned over the world, dominated by us. The Long Peace began when we were attacked."

"Just yesterday, the enemy has once again attacked us. Thousands of innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered mercilessly by this army. New York itself has been heavily damaged, over 1000 people dead. We have also discovered that the enemy has kidnapped our citizens and took them back through the Gate." Orris shuddered. Now, everyone in America would be calling for the total destruction of the Empire. The last time American citizens were taken as slaves sparked a brutal civil war, and it seemed that a war was brewing.

"I give my condolences to the families of those affected by the attack. The people who did this are not human. They do not deserve to be called humans. They are rabid dogs."

Several dozen people in the crowd yelled in agreement with the President until several guards ordered them to be quiet.

"Do you want to know the reason why they attacked us?"

Yells of "yeah" were ushered through the crowd of several thousand standing in front of the President.

"According to FBI and CIA reports, they attacked us because they could. They kidnapped our people because they could. They raped and pillaged us because they could. They think we are a filthy degenerate nation."

The crowd went berserk as he said that, some even screaming. The Secret Service and DC police had to physically restrain some individuals.

"These savages attacked us for no reason. We shall show them the wrath of God. As I speak, an expeditionary force is being prepared to go through the portal. This scourge shall be wiped off the face of the Earth. The fallen shall be avenged, while those responsible will suffer."

And with that, the President ended his speech.

* * *

**Fort Hamilton**

**April 21st, 2013**

"Man, this fucking sucks ass," whispered Johnson, clearly dismayed with the fact that he had to take language learning classes. In the aftermath of the incident, some intelligence spooks had managed to translate parts of the Saderan language and quickly published a dictionary. When I say translate, I mean that they beat the fuck out of the prisoners until they understood what they were saying.

"It beats a lap around the base, that's for sure." barked a grunt to his right.

Johnson did not notice the soldier and continued doing the translation worksheet, the pencil in his hand gracefully moving in all sorts of directions. It was a pain in the ass to do these worksheets, as they were long, boring, and tedious. The sergeant was only halfway through the 10-page booklet. After a few minutes, Johnson was done translating the entirety of the questions before him. Now, it was time for physical training: a 5-kilometre run, an obstacle course, and a live-fire exercise.

After the courses were complete, the grunts in the base crowded around the television in their barracks, watching the news footage of the recent attacks.

Global Cable News practically blasted Johnson's face across its channel, painting him as the "man who saved Manhattan," something which he clearly disagreed with.

"There were a lot of good guys there. It's bullshit how they're only focusing on me." stated a rather irked Johnson.

"Personally, Sarge, you should just accept it. It's not every day someone gets to become famous overnight," replied a PFC to his right.

The news footage continued to play, displaying rather graphic scenes. For example, a video from a New York National Guard trooper's helmet cam went viral. He was the gunner in the Humvee that was part of the clean-up operations, meant to root out any remaining Imperials.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this footage can get quite graphic. We recommend you remove any children from the room." stated the news anchor.

The video then played. The first 30 seconds or so were uneventful, just the man driving around for a few moments. Eventually, 3 armored cars, 5 dented up patrol cars, and several dozen men appeared on the screen. The .50 cal gunner promptly yelled at a SWAT officer in the middle of the road to get out of the way. Just 2 seconds after he yelled, the Browning was locked back. Several small puffs of smoke appeared in front of his barrel, and the cavalrymen in front died in rather horrific ways. The Saderan warriors in front were torn in half by the machine gun rounds, with each round hitting with a force equivalent to 4000 joules.

"Jesus. I don't remember there being that much blood." said the Sergeant. As he spoke, the TV switched to a discussion segment. Two pudgy men sat in a couch, each arguing with one another.

"You see here, Mark, their armor is virtually identical to the ancient Romans. Hell, their tactics are the same as well!"

Lt. Alan walked up and grabbed the TV remote off the table and proceeded to switch the channel to something else. Ironically, the channel he switched to was playing a movie about the assassination of Julius Caesar.

"The hell did you do that for?"

"I ain't watching 2 fatasses debate about whether they are actually Romans or fake Romans."

Johnson simply sighed. The next few weeks of preparation to go through the Gate are going to be grueling.

* * *

**Times Square Command Center**

**April 22nd, 2013**

"Do you have the drone setup?" Lt. General Harrison asked the rather young operator sitting at a desk in the corner of the room. The A4 needed eyes in the other world and they needed it now.

"Sir, the Eagle drone is ready. It'll broadcast live footage to us, London, Canberra, Ottawa, and Geneva." One of the secondary objectives of this mission was to allow their allies to get an eye in the otherworld as well. After all, knowledge was the best weapon. As for the drone, it was armed with a few cruise missiles as well as additional 20mm machine guns if everything went horribly wrong.

Down in the ground, several people were wheeling the drone into the Gate walls. In the past 48 hours, the walls had been upgraded to deflect everything short of a low-yield nuclear weapon and a nuclear-resistant blast door covered the entrance. The giant mouth of the Gate opened, almost like it was a predator preparing to devour its prey. A more accurate comparison would be if that prey happened to be armed with the deadliest weapons the predator had ever seen.

As the blast doors opened, the VTOL-capable drone was activated. The operator began moving the joystick linked to his computer around and pressed several keys nearby. Within a few seconds, the Eagle had begun hovering. It was shaped like one of our own Predator drones, but just a little bulkier at the end, to allow for its VTOL capability. Flicking the switches, the camera feed was soon turned on.

"The live-feed is on, sir."

Soon after that, the drone began its descent into the other side. As it slowly flew through the Gate-tunnel, many in the room felt a sort of dread. Some people had expected a Lovecraftian abomination to suddenly pop up on the screen, while others feared that the other side was already closed. It was a surreal experience watching the drone fly through the space tunnel. The oddest thing was that the sides of the tunnel seemed to be indefinite like there was nothing there.

After a few minutes of nothing, a light slowly began to appear on the drone's camera.

"Focus on that thing," ordered the General.

The operator moved the scale dial up a few times with his finger. With each dial adjustment, the image snapped then enlarged. Eventually, the light became much more definite in its appearance. Silhouettes of trees and rocks began to snap into existence until the light was the only thing on the other side of the portal. It was unmistakable what they had just found. The end of the Gate.

Eagle 01 continued its journey into the other side and finally breached through the light.

"We've reached the other side, sir. Do I proceed on?"

"Yes, continue on."

Following Harrison's orders, his hands slowly moved the joystick forward. Corresponding with his actions, the drone did the same as well. They were in the other side now. There was no turning back. Immediately, pictures were snapped and transmitted back to the main command center.

"Get me eyes on the Gate in that side of the world."

Rotating, the camera was now directed towards the Gate entrance on this side of the world. It looked exactly the same as the one in New York and it also appeared to be made out of the same material: a translucent, fiberglass-like substance. Then, out of nowhere, an arrow suddenly flew past the camera.

"The fuck was that? I want eyes on whatever the fuck that was!"

Eagle 01 slowly spun around, almost like an eagle looking for its next mouse to feed on. A few seconds later, and it spotted the mouse. Or rather, mice. A platoon of Saderan soldiers spread out across a hill in front of the camera.

"FIRE AT THAT UNHOLY BEAST, MEN!" ordered Legate Sicaru. His men soon followed their commander's instructions, going to reload their bows and arrows while they ducked behind the infantry's shields. Everyone placed their hopes in the shields, as they were made out of the most durable materials that the Empire knew of. Unfortunately for the Saderans, durable for them meant that it was weak as hell for the iron war bird.

Another volley of arrows was fired, all aimed at the strange metallic creature. Around 2 had actually managed to lodge themselves in the drone, eliciting cheers from the foot soldiers.

"They're fucking shooting at it!"

"Shall I engage them, sir?"

"You are cleared to fire."

As fast as Sicaru could blink, two 20mm autocannons fired upon his men. Its effect was devastating, as the men in the open field were easy pickings for the machine gun. Upon impact with the massive round, whole bodyparts would get blown off completely, or disappear in fine red mists.

Sicaru was practically screaming for his life, attempting to run from the war bird. Say what you want about the Legate, but he wasn't an idiot. He instantly inferred that the loud sounds and weird streaks of green came from the drone, and ran in a zig-zag pattern to escape.

"Sir, HELP ME!" hollered a soldier to his left. The poor man was hit by the machine gun, as his legs were practically detached from his body, only hanging on by a single thread. Crawling, the grunt tried to make his way to his commander. Sicaru ignored him and continued running to his horse, a few dozen meters away.

The General walked up to the drone operator and ordered him not to target the leader running away.

"Why sir?"

"He'll spread the rumors about how strong we are. Now, wait for him to get on his horse."

The operator complied and patiently waited, watching the man get on his horse and gallop away. After that, a single cruise missile was fired at the hill, wiping out the few dozen men left on it. Was it overkill? Yes, it was. But the A4 needed to send a message. They were not a force to be fucked with.

The Eagle 1 mission served as the UN's first real offensive action against the Saderan Empire, and also the only piece of information that the UN could have safely gotten at that time. What they found out during that mission was invaluable. For starters, the Gate COULD be traversed, as evidenced by the fact that the drone had accidentally hit a very hard surface near the bottom of the space-tunnel several times. This meant that vehicles could traverse across, allowing for a real military operation. Additionally, Eagle 1 had proved that offensive action was possible in the first place and that no Lovecraftian abomination was waiting for them at the other end.

Meanwhile, in Ginza, Lt. General Hazama authorized a similar mission to go underway. This mission was virtually identical to Eagle 1's, reconnaissance. Although the US and JSDF's Predator drones did not pick up anything, besides a few pilgrims traveling to Alnus Hill. In the following weeks, both sides would send Special Operations teams through the Gate.

* * *

**Imperial Capital**

**April 28th, 2013**

To say that Emperor Augustus was displeased was an understatement. Molt was practically mad, for quite an understandable reason, as nearly 7 legions had been destroyed during their failed assault on both worlds. Now, rumors of flying demons wiping out a whole legion near Bellnahgo had spread like wildfire. The Emperor wondered what he was going to do next. His train of thought had soon been interrupted as Count Marx had walked into the room, delivering important news.

Marx unrolled a scroll of paper and begin reading off it.

"Sir, the Allied Kingdoms have stated that they shall place their firm support behind us during this time of need."

"Well, that is good. What of the news about our Gate near Bellnahgo and the one at Alnus?" While saying this, Augustus slowly stroked his chin in contemplation.

"Pontus has ordered several legions to surround the one at Bellnahgo, while Savagi has sent the 1st, 12th, and 15th Legions to surround Alnus Hill. Additional reinforcements are also expected," replied Marx, still reading off of the paper.

"What of the men who came back from the Gate? How many survived?"

"Less than 20, sir."

Molt shook his head.

"While the news of the defeat in the 2 worlds has been very... upsetting, we have captured dozen or so slaves from the other world, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then we shall torture them for information."

"Unfortunately sir, Prince Zorzal has already taken 5 of them for his own," Marx proceeded to cough, as he did not like reporting Zorzal's activities to his father, then continued on, "Personal use, sir. 7 of the other slaves are currently working in Diabo's mines."

"That fool. We could interrogate them for information while my damn son is currently busy fucking one of those whores." Augustus shook his head.

"Doesn't he already have a whore anyway? What happened to that bitch Tyuule?" Tyuule, Queen of the Warrior Bunnies, had been one of Zorzal's favored sex slaves. She had offered herself up to Zorzal during his conquest of the Warrior Bunnies, hoping that in return he would spare her people. Zorzal took her offer but backstabbed her anyways, still ordering his soldiers to massacre every last one of the rabbits. Now, no one had a positive opinion about Tyuule as Zorzal deliberately spread misinformation that Tyuule sold her people out to save her own flesh.

"Apparently, he beat her so much that she couldn't 'please' him today."

Molt sighed.

"Have our enemies done any offensive actions? And what are their capabilities?"

"Not yet, sir. And both of them harness magic rather easily, according to the survivors, and each of their warriors holds black staff-like weapons. We still do not know how the staffs work, but we have managed to capture a few from one of their fallen soldiers. From preliminary tests and examinations of our wounded men, pieces of metal have been found in them. The mages are theorizing that the staff works as a sort of ballista, firing these small metal pieces. Additionally, their carriages and wagons do not require horses to move, baffling even the mages at Rondel."

"Interesting. Order the mages to continue their research. Other than that, I believe this meeting is over." Marx promptly walked out of the room, scroll in hand. Molt then sat back in his throne, pondering on what he had to do.

* * *

In the following weeks after the failed invasion, the Empire had effectively surrounded the Gate. Over 600,000 men, nearly 66 percent of the army, were guarding the Bellnahgo Gate and Alnus Gate. During this time, 2 A4 special forces teams were sent through the Gate, armed with thousands of rounds of subsonic ammunition and suppressed weapons. Their night vision goggles and skull masks were usually the last things many soldiers saw before they were brought down to Hardy's domain. Many soon started to believe that these people were angels of Hardy and were literally dragging people down to Hell. The teams were important assets, as they found out that the air was breathable in this world, meaning that nuclear-biological-chemical suits were not necessary to traverse this land. One U.S. cell had actually managed to buy a house in the red light district of the Capital and begin discreetly monitoring high-ranking Imperial figures in the area.

When the FEF arrived through the Gate a few weeks later, they would find out they already had a very large presence in the capital. While the locals thought they were just new crime lords with sophisticated magic, they were, in fact, part of the United States Special Operations Command.

* * *

**Imperial Capital - Red Light District**

**May 19th, 2013**

Over 500 Saderan soldiers had disappeared in a timespan of 2 weeks. Everyone was on edge, as they feared the Men-In-Black would come for them next. Whole crime families were found dead; the only things found at their death sites being cards emblazoned with skulls on them as if they were agents of Hardy herself.

The most mysterious things about the Men-In-Black was that their victims usually died upon just seeing them. A small hole would later appear in their bodies, bleeding out a lot. It was theorized by much of the criminals that the Men would simply stare at you with their piercing gaze and you would die. Fortunately, infantry grunt Caelia did not believe those stories. After all, they were probably just the beastmen that constantly preyed on vulnerable people here in this area.

He sat down on the rock and began cleaning his spear when he heard some rustling in the bushes behind him.

He turned around, only to find a strange black cylinder obscuring his vision.

Caelia never even felt the subsonic bullet go through his head. The Special Forces commander soon appeared from the shadows, as if he were a demon coming from hell, and stripped the body naked. They needed the Roman uniforms so they could blend in with the locals.

On paper, they were never here.

* * *

** Across Space and Time**

**Unknown**

Hardy screamed in delight while viewing the Gates from her celestial viewpoint; the other-worlders were finally entering the Gate. Emroy had placed a bet with her that if the armies did not cross, then Rory would not marry Hardy. Suffice to say, Hardy had won that bet rather handily. Hell, she was already hiring the angels to plan the bachelorette party for her then-

The sound of a door opening and slamming against the wall resonated throughout her viewpoint. She looked behind her and began summoning a spear, after all, someone had rudely interrupted her while she was enjoying the moment. To her surprise, Emroy was standing in the doorway, neatly dressed in the suit and tie he always wore.

"You have lost the bet, Emroy. Now, give me your Apostle," said Hardy as she examined his outfit from head to toe. Her voice had a rather silky quality to it, capable of easily persuading anybody who wasn't an Apostle to obey her.

"Rory won't be marrying you, Hardy." stated the stoic Emroy. Emroy then covered his ears with his hands, preparing for the inevitable screams that would come next.

"Wha- we had a bet! You fucking SNAKE!" shrieked the goddess. The scream was loud enough to partially shatter some windows in the room she was in. Some objects were even vibrating at a frequency that should not have been possible. Just as he predicted.

Emroy simply sighed.

"I crossed my fingers when I placed that bet, y'know." stated the now smirking Emroy. An image soon manifested in his hand from thin air, clearly displaying his crossed fingers. In the background of the image, a smiling Hardy could clearly be seen shaking Emroy's hand.

"This was taken when we placed the bet around 25 years ago."

"You're a fucking bitch, you know that Emroy?" hollered a rather angry Hardy. A fire soon manifested in her hand and her pupils were literally blood-red.

"Hardy, you should have known better. I'm not gonna let you marry my Apostle. You've been trying for nearly a millennium. Please stop, she looks barely 15-"

Emroy stopped midsentence as Hardy threw a flaming bolt at him. He sidestepped and turned his head to the right, dodging the bolt.

"Chill, holy shit, chill!"

"Get the fuck out of here, or I'll continue lobbing these at you!" ordered a now furious Hardy. She looked ready to kill and if a mortal saw her gaze, they would die in a rather horrible way.

Needless to say, Emroy soon dissipated.

_I'll win over her heart one day,_ thought Hardy. For 870 years and counting, Hardy had tried to propose to Rory, only to be denied every single time. Sometimes, Emroy would purposely sabotage her plans anyway so that when she did try to impress Rory, she would look like a bumbling idiot. Then there was her own Apostle, Giselle. Giselle had been a loyal servant, but she was DEFINITELY not into draconians. No, she had a certain affinity for girls like Rory. Perhaps, she should enlist the help of her Apostle to try and get Rory to fall for her. She'd propose to her this time. Unfortunately, the last time she tried to propose roughly 55 years ago, Rory screamed so loudly in the Plane of the Gods that Giselle had to physically restrain her and explain to Emroy that she had just stubbed her toe. But hey, 530th time is the charm, right?

* * *

*** - The United States in the A4 world is not dominated by two parties.**


	3. Through the Gate

**Thank you for all the favorites and follows! Additionally, thank you for the reviews, I will take what you have to say in mind, UH-60 Nightstalker. I myself am trying to learn how to lengthen out my chapters and detail it more. **

* * *

**Times Square Gate Entrance**

**June 23rd, 2013  
**  
Sergeant Johnson of the 101st Cavalry Regiment reached up and closed the hatch of the armored personnel carrier, the heavy metal plate firmly locking into place after a loud thud. This vehicle was air-tight and was designed for worst-scenario contingencies, for example, a nuclear, biological, or chemical attack. The brass up top decided that the grunts going in needed to get the best protection available, and that protection came in the form of the M5 Assault vehicles. The Assaulter was similar to a real-life Stryker, with just a few tweaks in the design here and there.

Now, we move onto his squadmates:

Private First Class Larry Alberts, a young 18-year-old kid from the Bronx who signed up for the hell of it. He has a fascination with Vietnamese anime*, often being called a weirdo for it. One quick look at the kid and you could tell that he was rather mischievous and rowdy as a child, evidenced by the various scars on his body and face. Despite this, the Army whipped him into shape in no time. Now, he was considerably quieter, even if he snarked around a bit.

Up next was Lance Corporal Alexandra Lee, a 24-year-old combat medic. A rather reserved and quiet individual, if someone was to meet her. This is understandable, as she had to deal with the dozens of wounded soldiers during the Stettin Uprising. Johnson didn't really know much about her to begin with, only that she was at Stettin.

Now, we move onto the foreign soldiers. To start with, there was Jack Harrington and Steve Irving, both rowdy Australians. Again, Johnson did not know much about them other than the fact that they were rather loud individuals that liked the attention. A British Army corporal was also present, named Darris Carpenter. To be honest, Johnson didn't even know that he was supposed to be in the APC with them. While thinking about his squadmates, the radio comms suddenly burst up.

"ALL UNITS, OPERATION FAST CATCH IS NOW COMMENCING. HORSEMAN-ONE-ACTUAL, YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO PROCEED INTO THE GATE."

Fast Catch had been the military designation for their entry through the Gate, while the main battle tanks in front began slowly rolling into the Gate. To an outside observer, it would look as if they were driving straight into the maw of the devil. For all intents and purposes, they practically were. The reasoning for the MBTs to go first was that this Gate was one of the easiest chokepoints in history, and if they were hemmed in by an enemy attack, the tanks could engage at will.

The engines of the APC soon revved up, and the gigantic wheels of the vehicle slowly began rolling forward into the Gate. Soon after, the vehicle lurched forward at a few kilometres per minute, as did the vehicle behind it, and the vehicle behind that one. The convoy of several hundred vehicles began driving into the jaws of death.

"Sir, what do you think we'll find there?" asked PFC Larry. Johnson was going to answer the young kid's question until he was interrupted.

"I certainly don't want to see a giant croc there, ya hear me mate?" the Australian, Jack, had chimed in on the question while he was adjusting his helmet.

"That's just because you're a fuckn pussy, mate." replied the other Aussie, Steven.

"Oh shut the fuck up." the 2 soldiers began throwing a slew of insults at each other before a polite suggestion from the Englishman made them stop.

"Personally, sir, this chokepoint makes me uneasy. The Gate's only a few meters in width and height, right? Perfect for an enemy to hem us in." replied Alexandra.

"Well, I'm sure the tankers in front will handle them. This is practically a pre-industrial society, after all," said Johnson.

"You hear that they're gonna send in nuclear-tipped missile trucks, sir? Shit's cray-cray." replied the PFC.

"Also sir-" Larry stopped in the middle of his sentence as they entered through the Gate. It went completely black for a moment, then various star constellations popped into view on the side walls. It was very trippy as they entered through the Gate, as it looked similar to the night sky. There was no definite end to the side of the Gate, which made the convoy rather uneasy. For all they knew, one of their vehicles could suddenly drive off of the designated road without even knowing.

All of the troops inside the APC stopped talking for a moment, as to absorb this visual marvel before them. It resembled a picture of the night sky.

"Guess this is what it's like being an Air Force boy at Lemay*?" snarked a chuckling Larry.

"Naw, Air Force ain't gonna see a whole fantasy world like us. Buncha pussies if you ask me." chimed the Australian with his thick accent.

The rest of the crew snickered a bit at that comment, even Alexandra. No one liked the elitist Air Force boys who acted that they were better than everyone because they had been on one of the U.S's lunar bases.

After a few minutes of traversing along the celestial road, a light began to slowly emerge from the front window of the APC. The driver simply told the crew to stay put.

Several blurts from the radio were heard.

"HORSEMAN-ONE-ACTUAL HAS BREACHED THE GATE. NO TANGOS FROM WHAT WE CAN SEE."

"HORSEMAN-TWO-ACTUAL HAS BREACHED THE GATE."

The main battle tanks were through. Now it was time for the rest of the convoy to follow them.

The M5 Assault soon breached through the Gate, with Johnson closing his eyes in anticipation of... something. He didn't really know what he was closing his eyes for but he did it anyway. Immediately, a bright, blue sky and the rough, dark silhouettes of trees flashed by their windows, almost like it was a TV screen.

The vehicle stopped and the men began dispersing out, gripping their assault rifles tightly. The soldiers felt like they were wading ashore Red Beach One, and that an enemy attack was bound to happen at any point. Combat engineers soon flooded through the Gate.

The Eagle had just landed.

A few hundred miles away, First Lt. Youji Itami and his squad had just breached the Gate as well.

* * *

**A few miles from Bellnahgo**

"Sir, they've breached the Gate," said Legate Cervius to his commander, Julian Cicarius Wari. A red-faced scribe had run over a mile to present this information to the commander upon seeing the force breach the Gate.

"Very well. I'll attack them tomorrow," stated Wari while he was sipping a glass of his red drink. Truth be told, Wari had bought his way up into this rank, and his father was a powerful figure within the Senate. This meant that Wari skipped officer training and only had to do basic infantry training to get to his rank.

"Why, sir? Would it not be best if we simply pressed the attack now while they are sending their forces in? The Gate itself is a chokepoint, we can use that for our advantage."

Annoyed, Wari set his glass upon the table.

"When they have sent the majority of their forces through Hardy's Gate, I shall press the attack then. We can destroy much of their army in one fell swoop," stated Wari.

"Sir, have you not heard the rumors of their magic? Their iron birds possess immensely powerful magic that can rain death down onto their forces, while their soldiers are armed with wands that kill a person upon contact. They are a nation of mages!"

"Nonsense. The Empire is much stronger than that."

Looks like the indoctrination got to him.

"But sir,"

"Cervius, get out of my tent. I am the commander and you are not!" yelled a now drunken Wari. In his mind, the A4 was a bunch of petty savages, asking for a smackdown from the Empire. No matter, as tomorrow he would simply launch his offensive.

* * *

**United Nations Falmart Command Center / Camp Charlie**

**June 24th, 2013**

General Mattis sat in the tent, looking over the defenses of the forward operating base. In his hand was a small handheld radio, which he used to communicate around the base. A few meters away, several combat engineers were busy setting up temporary housing for the troops of the Falmart Expeditionary Force. As he was examining the workings of the base, he noticed that a slim 27-year-old man was running up to him. None other than Lt. Alan.

"Sir, the Canucks say they've got something 4 klicks away."

Mattis began listening to the Lieutenant speak.

"What have they spotted?"

"Enemy force. They've got cavalry, orcs, and dragons all flying towards us. They're in the tens of thousands."

Mattis got out of his chair and his face changed drastically.

"Sound the alarm. Tell our troops to get ready for a fight."

Mattis pulled a Cuban cigar out of his pocket and lit it. He placed it in his mouth and began smoking it.

In a building not too far from them, radio operators began issuing orders frantically, as the sound of an alarm began playing. It resonated across the whole camp, similar to a war-horn. Troops began arming themselves with automatic rifles and machine guns were locked back. In the few hours that the expeditionary force had been there, their engineers set up marvelous defenses, including razor wire surrounding the perimeter of the base, machine gun nests, and concrete bunkers. If the Saderans were going to take this military base, it wouldn't be without a fight.

Tank crews began sprinting into the motor pool and entering their main battle tanks, while crews up ahead operated their 40mm armor-piercing autocannons, prepared to blast any unlucky dragons or wyverns out of the sky.

Johnson himself loaded his assault rifle and began looking over the trench, prepared to shoot any enemies.

* * *

The drone continued whirring above the Saderan forces as their cavalry began charging on the open field a few miles from the camp, not caring that archers were attempting to shoot it out of the sky with their bows. It was embarrassing, really, as their most elite archers had hit it several times in fact, and it showed no signs of getting down.

Wari simply looked at the drone in frustration and threw a slew of insults at it.

"CURSE YOU, UNHOLY BEAST! YOU SHALL DIE IN EMROY AND THE EMPEROR'S NAME!" screamed Wari as he sat upon his horse.

The clattering of hooves a few meters behind him had alerted Wari to his senses. Legate Cervius was most disappointed with his commander's rash decisions and incompetence.

"Sir, respectfully, what in Emroy's name are you doing?" asked the confused Legate.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! I SHALL SHOOT THAT BEAST DOWN!" replied Wari. For the 4th time in a row, Wari had aimed his bow at the drone and had hit it in one of its metal wings yet it stayed high in the sky. It was like it was mocking him for his pathetic attempts and, to be honest, it was.

"Sir, the offensive is going smoothly so far. We have the 17th, 20th, and 35th Legions acting as a spearhead, as they have mages in their forces. We'll use them to block the enemy fire, while the 47th and 48th Legions will flank them from the west and east. We'll box them in back to the gate." said Cervius.

"Brilliant plan, Legate. But before we can do that, I must shoot down this demon," replied Wari, again aiming for a 5th shot.

"Sir, it's not gonna do anything. Stop wasting your time."

Wari simply sighed.

"Fine. I guess a commander must go out and fight with his army."

Wari hit his horse and it promptly began galloping to the legions in front. Wari stood out like a sore eye, as he was dressed in pure bronze armor, with a golden crown around his head indicating that he was the commander of the legions.

* * *

The 4th Canadian Remotely Operated Aerial Vehicle Group was laughing their asses off as they saw the man in ornate armor attempting to shoot down their drone. Some had even begun placing bets on whether he would be successful or not.

"I betcha this one will hit the wing. Betcha a buck," stated James, the current drone operator.

As predicted, the arrow had clipped the wing a bit.

"Ah fuck, guess I owe ya a dollar," replied Logan from the other side of the immaculate gray room littered with computer equipment.

At that point, the Saderan commander down below had begun speaking with the newly arrived Legate on horseback. From their handy language guides that the drone operators had been given, they could make out 'offensive' and 'legions' in the Legate's speech.

"Shit, he might be saying something. You got the parabolic mics on?" inquired Logan.

"Yeah. We'll be picking up what he's saying. It's a live broadcast back to the FOB anyways, and I'm sure they'll have translators deducing what it means."

* * *

The drone had fully recorded the conversation between Wari and Cervius. All that was left was for their boys to translate it.

"Leonidas, what does it mean?" stated Mike as the live broadcast was transmitted him. The 2 had been in a small office and were intently watching the drone footage. Leonidas had been amazed by the magical tools that the Yoo-nyted Nay-shuns had utilized, such as being able to spy on anyone from anywhere with the use of their war eagles.

"Well, as I view this magic, I can deduce that they are planning to send several legions to your north, while 2 other legions will attack your flanks on the west and east. Additionally, mages will be embedded with the infantry and cavalry in the northern spearhead, providing protection to their forces," stated Leonidas in a very heavy accent. His English was broken, but still understandable, just like Mike's Saderan.

"Thank you, Leonidas."

Mike proceeded to send a message to General Mattis on the laptop next to him, telling him all the details of the attack.

The Saderans were dead, but they just didn't know it yet.

* * *

From his binoculars, Mattis saw the enemy charging across the open field like a pack of fools. Next to him was Alan, also looking with his pair of binoculars.

"Reminds me of the Somme," said Mattis.

"Yeah. They'll be dead from standard small-arms before they know it," said Alan.

"There's a bit of a problem with that, Lieutenant."

"What's the problem?"

"They have mages. Our small-arms fire will be deflected by them. And I would not like them to enter within firing range of standard assault rifles anyways."

"Could we use our artillery, sir?"

"Yes. Are the 101st and 258th Field Artillery Regiments through the Gate yet?"

"Yes, sir. They arrived a few hours ago," replied Alan, looking at the sheet of unit deployments.

"Excellent."

* * *

"FOR THE EMPEROR!" yelled a battlemage a few meters in front of him.

War chants were roared every second and awakened the primal bloodlust in each of his men.

Wari rode his horse across the battlefield, while his decorated sword swung from side-to-side. His men were filled with vigor and bloodlust with some even dreaming about the riches they would be promised when they returned from their glorious campaign. The grass was the only thing present on the field they were riding on, while small bushes here and there littered the field. There were very few trees on the field, not obscuring their vision at all.

The open field served as a perfect line of view for the A4, which meant that they had spotted the entire invasion force from miles away before Wari could even have a glimpse of their location.

Up ahead, streaks of what appeared to be lightning began traveling towards them, seemingly growing larger by the second.

The yellow streaks then landed right in front of the mages, missing a bit, but that did not matter.

Loud explosions soon thundered in front of the mages, shocking and disorienting them. Several of the battlemages in front were turned into spectacular showers of gore when the shells landed directly on them. Within a few seconds, all of the forcefields went down, exposing the vulnerable infantry and cavalry.

Artillery shells soon began raining down on his army, killing hundreds of people within a few seconds. A shell had struck directly in front of the Count, while pieces of shrapnel fired across the open field. The Count took a few moments to recollect himself, looking at the carnage before him. Due to how densely packed his legion was when the shells landed, they often took dozens of men with them.

Chaos had spread through the ranks of the legion, as cavalrymen began deserting left and right instead of pressing the charge.

"WHAT THE HELL? IS THE HILL ERUPTING?" yelled a warrior to Wari's right. The same man was struck directly by a shell moments later, and his body erupted and exploded, sending skeletal fragments and body parts everywhere.

With each impact, Wari felt superheated waves of air pass by him, nearly knocking him off his horse. All around him, once noble warriors were disgraced, many of them not even getting the chance to see what killed them.

Up above, several dragon riders were attempting to strafe and move in a zig-zag position to avoid being shot down by deadly streaking metal bolts. Unfortunately for one rider, one of these bolts soon collided with his dragon's torso, ripping it in half completely after a great explosion.

"SIR, WE MUST RETR-" Legate Cervius was interrupted as the bloody carcass of a wyvern came crashing down and crushed the Legate.

Wari could only watch helplessly as his men were gunned down in the thousands, while the bolts of death came from across the sky and killed everything within meters.

Wari came back to his senses after watching 5 men get blown to shreds by a 155mm high explosive fragmentation artillery shell. Pretty soon, he realized that the only thing he could do was to order an unmolested retreat. And from the looks of it, this retreat was going to turn into a full-on rout if he did not do anything.

"ALL UNITS! WE ARE RETREATING!" yelled Wari to the survivors. They had begun scattering and spreading around the open field, running back, making them a bit hard to hit. Nevertheless, they still died in droves.

While the bolts of death had stopped raining down on them, an eerie silence fell upon the battlefield. The word battlefield would be an understatement. It was a vast charnel house.

Wari looked over his remaining warriors, a measly two thousand. Corpses of man and beast littered the open field, staining the grass canvas with bloody showers of body parts and blood.

"WE'LL MAKE OUR WAY TO BELLNAHGO!" ordered Wari. His horse began galloping back to the lines as fast as it could, along with a dozen men following him.

"WE'LL HOLE UP IN THE CITY! ALERT THE REST OF THE LEGIONS, DRAGON RIDER!"

The dragon and his rider, who were both currently hiding in a small ditch, turned their head towards their ornately-dressed commander.

"Yes, sir." The dragon soon began flying, and took off, staying near to the ground and bushes in an attempt to obscure itself.

Of all the things that Wari had expected to bring down the Empire, invaders from another world had certainly not been on that list. On that day, Count Wari had learned something very important: that there is always a bigger fish.

Across the once-beautiful field, hundreds of deep brown craters marked and stained it, accompanied by the carcasses of doomed men, sent to die on a suicide mission.

* * *

"Estimated enemy losses?" asked Mattis.

"Sir, we're looking at ranges of up to 70,000," replied Alan, currently surveying the battlefield with his binoculars from the sandbags. In his binoculars, he saw things too grim and grisly to describe. Around him, hundreds of soldiers were running left and right, while vehicles full of weapons scrambled around the FOB. The FOB itself was designed like any normal military base, with its utilitarian architecture. Grey and white painted buildings littered the field that he was standing on, while sandbags and trenches surrounded the military base.

"Our side?"

"1 wounded, sir."

Mattis tried to comprehend the amount of death and suffering he had inflicted upon the Saderan Empire. It was impossible to try.

"What about the flanking legions to our west and east?"

"From what our surveillance drones show, they're retreating. Looks like the Imperials aren't suicidal after all," said Alan, reading over a report on his smart tablet.

Mattis smirked.

_That's what you fucking idiots get for messing with us,_ he thought.

* * *

"Man, this fuckin' sucks," said Johnson. He was playing a cheap FPS game on his smartphone, looking very bored. All emotion had been sucked out of his face. The rifle he was carrying was currently laid over on the side of a trench wall, safety on.

"Tell me about it, Sarge," said PFC Larry.

For the past few hours, the entire base was on maximal levels of alertness, and Johnson and his squad were called up to a defensive trench. Despite the fact that the intercom said that a massive enemy force was en route, he hadn't seen them for hours.

The trenches themselves weren't that bad. The high command had at least provided the soldiers with seating while sandbags were placed at the top edge to protect them. Not that they needed to be protected.

"Y'all know when the web-con's goin' up?" asked fatigued-looking Irving. Wi-fi, or web-con, according to this world's lexicon, had been immensely important to all of the soldiers. Irving wanted to video-call his girlfriend back home in Darwin, who was intensely worried right now.

"It'll take another week for web-con to be set up," stated Darris, the Englishman.

All members of the squad, even the quiet Alexandra, had groaned as they heard his statement. The internet was the world's arteries and veins, helping to connect each part of the world together. To not have it for a whole week was difficult.

Upon hearing footsteps coming towards them, Johnson turned off his smartphone and immediately placed it back in his pocket. No one wanted to be seen goofing off by a superior officer.

* * *

The Battle of Camp Charlie would ultimately result in sixty-five thousand Saderans dying, while over a hundred thousand were wounded. This was one of the largest defeats in the Empire's history, only being surpassed by the Battle of Alnus Hill a few hours later. Pontus's legions were virtually annihilated, with Pontus himself dying from a stray shrapnel piece while riding a few dozen meters behind Wari. The 47th, 48th, and what remained of the 35th Legions would eventually hole up in Bellnahgo, intent on utilizing its heavily dense and urbanized area as a defense against an attack. In the end, both battles would result in roughly 200,000 deaths for the Empire, an unprecedented loss.

* * *

*** - Anime was invented in Vietnam instead of Japan in the A4 world, due to the fact that Japan never quite reconstructed as well as it did in our history because most US aid was diverted towards the war effort. Japan is a third-world country akin to Indonesia in the A4 world, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, are basically tech and economy powerhouses. Imagine a South Korea or Japan but a lot more humid.**

***- Lemay is the name of the first US moon base.**


	4. Reconnaissance

**To Last Admiral: All of the action currently takes place from the A4's point of view.**

* * *

**United Nations Falmart Command Center / Camp Charlie**

**June 28th, 2013**

Johnson sat on the steel chair, reading a paperback novel. Ironically, it was about a WW2-era infantry division being whisked off to a fantasy world. A few meters away, the Australian members of his squad were sitting on top of the M5 Assault armored personnel carrier, both also reading novels. Darris played a card game with Alexandra, while PFC Larry was reading one of his Vietnamese light novels while pacing around on the dirt ground. Military vehicles, such as main battle tanks or LAVs, surrounded them while the utilitarian white buildings provided a backdrop for the green paint of the vehicles to contrast against.

Johnson sighed while putting down his novel. What he would do to be at home and play on his computer...

_Will anything ever happen here? _thought Johnson. For the past few days, all Johnson and his squad did was just walk around and do nothing.

In the days after the Battle of Camp Charlie, nothing happened. Although there were attempts at a 'punitive expedition' and 'retaliation mission' by the remaining Imperial brigades in the area, these assaults would be destroyed in a massive show of force. The skirmishes had already claimed an additional 15,000 lives accompanied by 30,000 more wounded to tend to. The field surrounding the forward operating base was stained red with blood, even as the UN helicopters landed day and night to remove and identify bodies. For the ground infantry of the A4, they would have killed to do anything more than just sit on their asses and wait. Most of the assault attempts were destroyed by aerial units from miles away, not the infantry.

From the corner of his eye, Johnson saw someone walking towards him. It was none other than Lieutenant James Alan, his good friend in the United States Army. Alan had a rather oval-shaped head with a pointy chin and good jawline, attracting lots of unwanted attention sometimes. He was built like a man who followed a fitness routine, slim and a bit muscular, but he wasn't built like a man who had to rely on physical labor to obtain what he wanted.

"Johnson," Alan spoke in a low voice which just seemed to demand attention from everyone around him.

"Yeah-" As Johnson prepared to speak to Alan, a loud set of thunderous footsteps behind him caught his attention.

Johnson turned around him and saw Colonel Jason Williams, commander of the 101st Cavalry Regiment. John had a smooth face topped with messy dark hair, with the scars on it screaming that he had served. His dark green uniform was adorned with a couple of medals, ribbons, and pins, each shining with distinction.

Johnson immediately straightened his back and stood upright.

"Colonel Williams," said Johnson. A salute was soon delivered from him.

"Sergeant Johnson. At ease," replied Williams.

Johnson relaxed himself a little and began listening intently to what the General had to say.

"Sergeant Johnson, you have a mission."

Williams pulled out a few pieces of paper, each displaying a map of the Falmartian continent, while the Gate was marked in dark red, with enemy formations, or what had been enemy formations, marked with large 'X's.

"Simply put, we are going to send several reconnaissance teams into the continent. As you are one of the only soldiers through the Gate so far with scouting and reconnaissance training, you are to lead Recon Team 6. You are to be tasked with exploring the areas around the city of Bellnahgo and Rondel, roughly 75 and 100 miles northeast. Our intelligence also suggests that an Imperial Army garrison has holed up in Bellnahgo. You will be expected to explore and find a safe route to the city, so our forces can link up and destroy the enemy. Any questions?"

"None, sir."

_Finally some fucking action,_ thought Johnson as he absorbed the information the General had presented to him.

"Good. Report to the armory at 1200 for…" The Colonel paused for a brief second, then continued on, "supplies." stated the Colonel. He walked off after he was done speaking, leaving Johnson and Alan alone.

"That's what I was going to tell you about," said Alan.

"Alan, do you know what he means by supplies? The way he said it seemed… off… to me…"

"Your squad is going to be very happy in the next few hours," replied Alan.

* * *

**Imperial Senate**

**June 28th, 2013**

"If we continue this war, the Empire will perish," said Senator Casel, standing in the middle of the marble floor.

Several pro-peace senators in the room nodded their heads at that, while the pro-war senators shook their heads.

"And you prefer us to surrender? They'll rape and pillage us! You are no better than them!" roared a bald, pudgy Senator from across the room.

"You saw how both of these countries wiped out the Allied Kingdoms and Imperial Army! If we don't surrender we will be completely annihilated!"

"They will annihilate us either way! Better we fight on our feet than die on our knees!"

Casel continued to stand there, not yielding to the arguments thrown from the pro-war faction.

Shouts reverberated across the room, directed on the Senator who suggested surrender.

On the other side of the room, Emperor Molt sat in his ornate throne, flanked on each side by 2 guards carrying spears. Around the room, several rows of seats encompassed the area in a circular formation, with each seat being occupied by men dressed in elegant robes, displaying their wealth.

"Silence!" yelled Emperor Molt.

Molt closed his eyes and shook his head, disappointed with the constant arguments in the Senate. Molt and the Senators had been in the building for nearly 2 hours, yet no resolution to the current problem was proposed at all.

All across the room, the Senate stopped speaking, some startled by the abrupt roar.

Molt looked at Casel and began pondering.

_What can I do to stop these stupid dogs from arguing?_

A metaphorical lightbulb lit up in Molt's head as he thought of a solution.

"Senators, Sadera shall not yield! For nearly 700 years we have stood strong. The war is not lost!" yelled Molt.

Several of the Senators nodded, while others simply rolled their eyes, albeit discreetly. After all, the Emperor could make people disappear on a whim.

"Of course, you all remember the fable of the Battle of Corian?"

"We held firm against the Totians, despite losing nearly 7 legions in that battle! When it seemed that all hope was lost, the Imperial Army smashed the Totians at Corian, just a mere day away from the Capital!"

"We shall do the same here. The Empire lives on forever!"

The Senate cheered at that, some praising the Emperor for his intelligence. Of course, Molt knew they were usually the brainwashed ones, the ones who had fed into the indoctrination.

_But of course, the Totians did not have flying metal beasts and magic staffs…_ thought Molt.

* * *

**CLASSIFIED LOCATION, NATIONALIST CONFEDERATION OF CHINA***

**June 29th, 2013**

Several generals walked into the labyrinth, escorted by armed guards every step they took. The room itself was rather dull, with grey paint slathered over most of the walls, while portraits of previous Chinese leaders hung on the walls. A large rectangular table occupied the space in the middle of the room, while several seats were occupied by Chinese political and military leaders. At the back of the room, a steel bullet-proof door was flanked on each side by 2 armed guards, each carrying automatic rifles.

A large screen displaying pictures of the "GATE" complex was placed directly in front of the table, placed in a way so that all of the ministers sitting could view the screen.

"Great. Now that everyone is here, we shall begin the meeting," spoke a rat-faced individual on the left side of the table. His uniform and hat were a dull green, similar to our own North Korean uniforms, while medals and pins decorated the upper left of his clothes.

"I assume all of you know about the Gate complex?"

All the generals and politicians in the room nodded.

"Good. I will get straight to the point now."

The man shuffled some papers in front of him until he found his desired one. His eyes scanned over the paper for a few seconds, then he began reading off of it.

"Our intelligence states that the Americans have sent nearly a whole division into the Gate, along with a UN regiment. India has also sent forces through the Gate, but we do not know their exact numbers. With the Westerners distracted, I propose that we initiate Operation Dragon Fury."

Several generals gave expressions of confusion at this, while the political leaders nodded. After a few seconds, someone spoke up.

"Glorious Leader, I do not think this is a good idea. Our biological weapons are still in their testing phases and are not ready to be deployed. Additionally, the Americans have increased their alertness, meaning that any attack could be foiled before it begins. We do not want to end up like Stettin either."

Glorious Leader Zhang began to think for a moment, absorbing the Marshal's words.

_He is correct, our bio-weapons are not ready to be deployed yet._

"General, you bring up a fair point. But, we cannot let this opportunity pass through our hands. The whole world is distracted with the Gate."

At that point, War Minister Xi Wei chimed in. His low voice rattled across the room, capturing the attention of everyone.

"Perhaps, we can exploit the Gate for our own uses. China is getting overcrowded, after all."

"And how are we supposed to do that, Minister? The Gate is located in the heart of our greatest enemy! We can't exactly just send an invasion force to New Yo-" yelled Field Marshal Jinping from across the table.

The Glorious Leader put his hand, palm facing towards the Marshal, indicating to him that he should shut up.

"Just because we cannot send an invasion force does not mean that it is undoable."

"How so, Glorious Leader?"

The Leader once again reached for a sheet of paper on the table.

"We can have our agents in the country within 24 hours. They're already in Hong Kong."

"And what are the agents supposed to do, Leader?"

Zhang grinned for a moment, as he browsed through the paper before him.

"Our strike teams can seize control of the Gate and perhaps we can, say, strike a deal with the Americans. The Americans will give us control of the Gate, and we shall send a million citizens through the Gate each year. We need living space for our people, and this is the best option. A new world, filled to the brim with resources!"

Several politicians in the room applauded the Leader's great intelligence, while several military officials began discussing with one another, albeit in hushed, quiet tones. The only military official who didn't do that was Jinping.

"Leader, respectfully, ARE YOU CRAZY!?" yelled Jinping, his face red and voice strained.

"If we send strike teams into New York, the Americans will glass us! This is a suicide mission!" Panic was present in the otherwise stoic man's voice.

"I have already decided, Marshal. If it makes you feel better, they are to simply report and observe for a few weeks. Then, we move in. If anything unforeseen happens, the mission will be called off."

"Sir, you are a madman! You will be responsible for the death of China!"

Glorious Leader Zhang continued glancing at the red-faced Jinping, pondering on what he was to do with the rebellious Marshal.

_This fool has obviously been brainwashed by Western propaganda…_

"Guards!" yelled Zhang.

The two stone-faced guards in the room immediately saluted and asked the Leader what he wanted.

"Send this pig to the Re-education room," ordered Zhang.

Right after he said that the two guards began walking over to Jinping.

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

His pleads were ignored, as the guards walked over to his chair.

"YOU ARE A MADMA-"

The buttstock of a rifle collided with Jinping's face, knocking him out cold. Jinping saw stars for a moment, then blackness. His body slumped onto the floor, as the two guards began carrying it out.

All of the gentlemen in the room stayed silent as they saw one of their comrades being dragged down to Hell. Eventually, the silence was broken by Zhang.

"Now, we shall continue."

* * *

**Zorzal's Palace**

**Date Unknown**

Mary walked down the hallway, her face gone white as she returned from Zorzal's room. The last hour had been hell on Earth for her. Nevertheless, she remained strong. She was raised as a fighter, after all.

Dark purple bruises decorated her body, as if they were patches, while pain radiated throughout her body. Tendrils of pain snaked around her body, sending fiery signals of pain to her nerves. Her brown, curly hair was now just a mop of brown strands, while her thin face was accompanied by a black eye. She was escorted by a guard in solid armor, his cold eyes constantly glaring at Mary's body, unnerving her.

At the end of the stone hallway, she saw a locked cage-style door and could see the dark silhouettes of various other figures through it. After a few seconds of walking, they reached the door, and she could clearly make out a woman with bunny ears on her staring back.

_What the hell…_

The guard behind her yelled something incomprehensible and shoved her into the room. Mary stumbled as he did, almost tripping, until the woman with bunny ears stopped her fall.

His grip tightened around the door's handle, and he slammed it behind him with a loud clang, ringing Mary's ears.

Mary looked at the bunny-woman who had stopped her fall.

"Who-who are you?"

The bunny-woman gave a look of confusion to her. For several minutes, Mary tried to communicate with the bunny-woman, albeit with no success. Tired, Mary walked to the edge of the room and proceeded to sit down on a rock bench. It was rather dark in the dungeon, with the only lighting provided by the torches in the hallway, which traveled through the large slits in the gate.

Mary sat down for a moment, only to feel a hand instead of the hard rock she was expecting. She turned her head and saw an Asian-looking woman with dark hair, so dark that it could even be mistaken for dark blue.

"Oh, sorry…" said Mary, almost on instinct.

The Japanese woman looked up at her, with a blank face. Like Mary, bruises and cuts were present on her arms and face, while fluids she dared not think about stained her rags. After several awkward seconds of silence, the Japanese woman talked.

"Are you an American?" asked the Japanese woman in accented English.

"Yes, I am. Where are you from?"

"Japan."

* * *

**UN Falmart Command Center**

Johnson glanced over his reconnaissance team, additionally examining the armored vehicles and Humvees that sat in the motor pool before him. The members of his squad were currently placing crates of ammunition and rockets into the one APC they had, while the Humvee crews metronomically loaded their M2 Browning machine guns. The dark green camouflage of the intricate vehicles contrasted substantially against the white tents and buildings behind them.

"Sergeant!" yelled a low voice to his right.

Johnson turned to his right, intent on finding the source of the noise. He was met with a man in military combat fatigues glancing at him.

"Lieutenant Alan."

"You forgot this," replied Alan, smirking as he did so. He plopped a heavy bag onto the ground in front him, while the contents inside clattered and clashed with one another.

Johnson picked up the bag, examining it. The bag itself was made out of brown linen and weighed very heavily in Johnson's hands.

"Why's this so heavy?"

"Because they're gold coins."

"What do we need gold coins for?"

"High command wants you to bribe the locals if needed. They should also be helpful if you're in a sticky situation."

"Well, gee, thanks." There was a hint of uneasiness in Johnson's voice, given that the last time he was trusted with money, he nearly blew 5000 dollars out of his bank account.

"You're welcome," replied Alan in a dismissive, uncaring voice. Alan proceeded to trek out of the motor pool, ignoring the rest of his squad.

_What the hell..._

"Sergeant, we've loaded the last of the rockets!" A sharp yell to Johnson's left had caught his attention. It was none other than Private Alberts, standing inside of the armored personnel carrier, gripping his rocket launcher.

"Sergeant, respectfully, why do we need to bring rocket launchers on a recon mission?" inquired the Australian, Irving from Alberts' side.

"Colonel Williams told me that high command wanted the troops to be armed to the teeth on this mission. The other recon teams are bringing along anti-tank launchers."

"Why? Are flying tanks gonna attack us or something?" Visible confusion was in Irving's voice.

"I don't fucking know. What the brass decides is what the brass decides."

Irving simply sighed.

* * *

*** - China in the A4 world is a giant North Korea-esque state, and for the past few years, they have been trying to manufacture a biological weapon to kill all non-Han Chinese people. Of course, if it works is a different story.**


	5. Scouting

**Security Checkpoint, 1 mile from Camp Charlie**

Corporal Randy sat on the Humvee's gunner seat, manning the M2 machine gun. Two Humvees sat on the dirt road, each located at opposite sides. The field around the road was practically plain and flat as it could possibly be, with no large vegetation or trees for at least a mile. For the past few hours, Randy sat on his ass and watched as the other troops in front checked the civilian convoys moving through. To call them convoys would be an insult to actual convoys. Most of them were just groups of carriages and wagons who traveled together, seeking passage through the road to their village or town. It was extremely tedious and boring to sit for hours on end, not doing anything.

_Why did I even enlist..._

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw a large plume of smoke on the road in front of him. From behind the smoke, he could clearly make out the silhouettes of what appeared to be a horse and a wagon, while a dark human-shaped shadow sat on the horse. They were trodding along, slowly but surely to the checkpoint, likely arriving with a few dozen seconds.

A few meters away, Private Allen gripped his jet-black carbine, finger rested away from the trigger. He dug his free hand in his combat fatigue's pocket, rapidly pulling out a Saderan translation book. His eyes scanned through the common phrases, written in dark ink on the first page, and Allen began reciting it over and over to himself.

"Trying to learn some words at the last minute, Private?" questioned a voice from behind him. His squad sergeant, Alexander Dylan, had peered over Allen's shoulders and saw that he was reading the translation book.

"Yes, Sergeant. Saderan ain't exactly easy to remember," replied Allen, still browsing over the pages.

"Well, Private, you better be quick, 'cause that wagon's coming any second now." Sgt. Dylan slung his carbine over his shoulder as he gripped a binocular with one hand, looking at the rapidly advancing convoy.

"Sergeant-" Allen was cut off as a Humvee on the left side played a loudspeaker, telling them to stop the convoy and be searched, in the Saderan language. The convoy immediately stopped, the horses and wagons stopping. Dylan noticed through his binoculars that one of the riders had begun to sweat profusely, alarming Dylan.

"Vasquez! You, me, and Allen are going to search it!" Vasquez paced towards the 2 other soldiers, carbine in hand. Vasquez was chosen for his knowledge of the Saderan language and was the squad's only linguistic expert. Similar to all the other Army soldiers, Vasquez had a ballistic vest on, as well as camouflaged fatigues and a protective helmet with a built-in communications eyepiece. This eyepiece was a key component of the Army's Infantry Communication System*, networking and linking all soldiers together. It was revolutionary, as soldiers could now receive mountains worth of important information while on the battlefield.

"Vasquez, ask them where they're going!"

Vasquez complied with Dylan's orders, striding towards the lead horse and wagon. The convoy itself was about 3 wagons, all in all.

"Where are you going?" queried Vasquez to the man sitting on the wagon.

"We are going to..." the man paused in uneasy hesitation, clearly trying to think of a suitable answer the question. Dylan became increasingly uneasy, as he saw sweat pouring out of the man's brows.

"Like I said, where are you going to?" replied an impatient Vasquez.

"Uhh... Tarsha Village, not far from here."

"What is the purpose of your trip?"

"We are delivering... goods."

Vasquez and Dylan both noted the man's hesitation in answering the questions. Allen kept watch, glancing over the wagon on the dirt road, while Randy lethargically locked back the .50 cal. That man had a look similar to the ones had been seen on the German rebels in Stettin.

"Alright, thank you for your answer. We are going to conduct a search of your wagon, if you don't mind, for security purposes."

The man perked up at that, giving a face of panic.

"No, that won't be necessary-" The rider was interrupted as a scream of panic came from the lead wagon.

"PLEASE SAVE US!" yelled a high-pitched, feminine voice. This was followed by a scantily-dressed woman with cat ears leaping out of the front of the wagon, past the man.

The cat-woman ran into Vasquez's arms, tears streaming down her face as she did.

"Okay, what the fuck's going on?" asked Vasquez.

"He's going to sell us at the markets!

"I... I demand that you return my goods at once!" yelled the man on the wagon.

Vasquez ignored the man's yelling and looked down at the cat-woman. She was quite a beautiful thing, but she was clearly roughed up, as scratches and bruises marked her face. Her face dug into his chest, the warmth of it surprising Vasquez.

Up ahead, Randy locked back the .50 cal on the Humvee.

"RELEASE THE FUCKING SLAVES OR I'LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF!" roared an enraged Dylan, pointing the carbine at the man sitting on the wagon. It didn't matter to him that the people he were rescuing weren't human. A long time ago, his own ancestors had been enslaved as well, with nearly all of them dying in SS labor camps. He would not let it happen to these people.

"THEY ARE BEASTMEN! THEY DON'T DESERVE ANYTHING!"

Covertly, the man began taking a bow and arrow from his side and loaded it. He aimed at one of the Americans for a brief second. He pulled back on the string and released it, all in under a second. The arrow whirred past Vasquez's head, blowing air past him, and reached its final destination: Allen's right shoulder.

_This will show those stupid upstarts..._

Allen collapsed in pain as it shattered his scapula bone.

"FUCK!"

"ENGAGE!"

"LET ME THROUGH OR I'LL-" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence.

The man sitting on the wagon was pumped chock-full with lead, with holes spewing out blood by the second. After a second of sustained fire, his lifeless body slumped to the ground.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

"CEASE FIRE!"

"SECURE THE WAGON!" hollered Dylan, dragging a writhing Allen behind a Humvee.

Vasquez pushed the cat-woman off his chest and sprinted to the back of the wagon, accompanied by another soldier. As he opened the flap of the wagon, he saw something too... too horrible to describe. In the back of the wagon were twelve individuals, all of them female. Four had cat-ears on the top of their heads, while the other eight were regular humans, from what he could tell. At least three of them looked like they were under the age of twelve, disgusting Vasquez. All of them had open cuts on their face, bruises on their necks, and whip marks on their arms. Worst of all, they all wore brown linen rags, each stained with fluids that he did not want to think about.

Then, it dawned on him.

These people were being sold as sex slaves, even the younger ones. Vasquez felt a hot fluid making its up way up his throat.

"WE NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!" The other soldier accompanying him shouted.

* * *

**30 miles from Bellnahgo**

"The sky's so blue," Johnson muttered to himself. The sky had not been blocked by constant streams of pollution coming from factories. It was a marvel to see, with nothing blocking his view.

He rested his head on the hard, cold chassis of the HMV. It wasn't comfortable, but it would do for a few hours. Sitting to next him was the Australian corporal, Irving, while Darris's feet was lodged right in the middle of them, as he was the .50 cal gunner.

"Meh," Corporal Irving spoke, "just another day in the outback."

On the dirt road were two High Mobility Vehicles, a supply truck, and an LAV-25 APC.

Their dark green vehicles contrasted against the bright surroundings. A world gone to hell and back met a world not yet gone to hell. Meanwhile, the monotonous hum of the wheels slowly tired everyone out.

"Sergeant, we got a village up ahead, 12 o' clock, 400 meters," The driver, PFC Larry, called from the front seat. Next to him in the front passenger seat was Alexandra, the squad's combat medic.

Johnson budged himself up to the front seats, looking through the window. Sure enough, a mass of stone and wooden huts had stood before them.

As he stared out the window of the Humvee, the radio came to life.

"Hunter Two-One Actual, what do you see? Over."

Johnson grabbed the radio's microphone and began to speak into it.

"Warlord Six, this is Hunter Two-One Actual, we have a village in front of us, 12 o'clock, 100 meters. Over."

While speaking into the radio, Johnson observed that most of the buildings looked charcoal black. Not a soul was seen in the village yet, alarming Johnson.

"Looks awfully suspicious..."

He reached his hand for a pair of binoculars on a ledge in the driver's compartment. Johnson peered through them and was mortified by what he saw.

He saw the silhouette of what appeared to be a burnt corpse hanging from a tree in the village, a hastily tied noose around his neck.

"Oh my god..." He muttered to himself.

"What is it, Sergeant?" Larry asked while squinting out the window.

He handed over the binoculars to Larry. Larry's right hand reached for them while his other hand was still on the steering wheel.

"Jesus..."

Right after that, their comms came to life again/

"Hunter Two-One Actual, what do you see? Over."

"Warlord Six, the whole fucking village is burnt to smithereens. I got a hanging body in my sight. Over."

There was a brief pause.

"R-roger that, Hunter Two-One Actual. Over and out."

**xxx**

Johnson looked at the hanging villager, his eyes fixated on the corpse's open mouth. It sent shivers down Johnson's spine, sending a primal terror to his brain. All he wanted to do was get the fuck out of there. Nevertheless, he had been the one who had given the order to exit the vehicles and search for survivors in the town. If he left now, he'd be a coward in the eyes of his squad.

Around the tree that the villager had been hung on were the remains of two wooden huts. Black, soot-stained planks made up the space that was formerly occupied by the huts. From the corner of his eye, Johnson saw the blackened corpse of a child, face-up.

_Who the fuck did this?_

Behind Johnson, a shaken Alberts held his assault rifle with an iron grip, terror present in his eyes. In a way, he looked a lot similar to the Filipino soldiers who had been sent into Stettin the days after the orbital bombardment.

Next to them was Irving, who turned his head and scouted out the ruins of the town.

As they trekked through the ruins, an eerie silence had dawned on them. No one had anything to say.

After a few minutes, they were done scouting around the town. No survivors were found. The rest of the soldiers regrouped at the edge of the town, next to their vehicles.

Johnson's helmet comms flared up, as he was sitting on a rock with his squad.

"Hunter Two-One Actual, any survivors? Over."

"Roger, Warlord Six, no survivors. Over and out."

"You think a dragon could of done this, Sarge?" asked Larry. His voice was trembling a bit. After all, it was his first time seeing dead bodies.

"I don't know, Private. Anything could happen here."

"It it is a dragon, we're fucked," Darris spoke, his usual polite English accent gone.

"The ones at New York could only be killed by .50 cal armor piercing rounds. The spooks at home are saying that their scales are as durable as tungsten."

Johnson merely sighed at that.

"If anything goes wrong, we got the Bushmaster on the LAV."

Nearby, Alexandra held a clipboard with a single piece of paper attached to it. She paced up to her squad sergeant, her face clearly alarmed.

"Sergeant, I've-I've noticed something very wrong."

Johnson's eyes flickered up as he took a swig from his water bottle.

"What is it, Corporal?"

"All the bodies that we've recovered so far are male. We haven't found any female bodies at all. Additionally, the bodies that we did find, those that weren't already burnt to smithereens, had stab wounds in them." Alexandra spoke with a flat, almost robotic voice, boring Johnson out.

"What's your point, Corporal?" He said with a disinterested tone.

"My point is that this wasn't a natural occurrence. Women don't just disappear from villages and villagers don't get stabbed during fires."

Johnson tapped his head on his helmet a few times while thinking.

"You think it was a bandit raid?"

"Possibly."

"That doesn't explain the hanging villager. Why hang someone then stab everyone in the town?"

"Maybe-" Alexandra was interrupted as a Polish Army private a few feet away yelled out something which he couldn't understand. Fortunately, he repeated it in English.

"I got a civilian at my 3 o' clock!"

Johnson stood up from the rock while gripping his 7.62x51mm battle rifle. He paced up to the soldier's position and turned his head roughly 90 degrees to the right.

A woman with bunny ears, her pale face and clothes stained black with soot, stood in front of the blackened, charred remains of a wooden hut.

She was shaking rather visibly, her hands trembling as she saw them. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and fell on the burnt grass below her.

She had fainted.

"MEDIC!" hollered Johnson.

* * *

**Camp Charlie**

"Gentlemen, what I am about to show to you may be alarming," stated General Mattis, supreme commander of all operations in Falmart.

In the room was a table with 5 chairs, each occupied by an officer in dull green BDUs decked with dozens of pins and medals. The commanders of the UN task force were there, each paying close attention to what the General was about to say. Behind them was a wooden door and behind that were two guards, each holding submachine guns. Stacks of papers and folders occupied the space on the table, along with a single laptop, which Mattis was currently viewing.

Mattis turned the laptop towards the men. Aerial images of Humvees and Asian-looking men, and a star-shaped fort surrounding a Gate complex had taken up most of the screen.

"General, what exactly are we looking at?" queried Colonel Davidson, the Canadian commander of the UN task force.

"These images were taken by our drones at 2:00 Zulu this morning."

"Have the Chinese sent forces through the Gate?" asked Lt. Colonel Singh, Indian liaison to Falmart.

"Colonel, no. In fact, these forces aren't even Chinese at all. They have the Japanese flag hoisted up."

"That's impossible," said Davidson. "The Japanese would have told us if a Gate opened up."

"Our intelligence units back home in Japan have been flying drones over every square inch of the islands for at least a week now. They've gotten nothing. Additionally, the Japanese government denies that there is a Gate."

Lt. Colonel Singh narrowed his eyes as he examined the screen.

"Wait, the Japanese don't even have an armored platoon. How the hell are there main battle tanks in that picture?" Singh pointed out the discrepancy.

"And that's what I was going to get to. For all intents and purposes, most of the equipment that we have taken pictures of don't exist. Those main battle tanks they're using, we don't know what they are. Hell, even their damn construction vehicles are unknown to us," said Mattis.

"Perhaps, we are not the only world that the Gate has opened up to," suggested Colonel Williams from across the table.

"What do you mean, Colonel?"

"I mean that those Japs are not of this world. Think about it. You really think that a Gate would only open up to our world?"

"That's simply preposterous," remarked Davidson.

"Yeah, and a year ago it would have been preposterous for a portal to a fantasy world to open up in New York, wouldn't it?"

Davidson stayed silent.

"Whatever the matter, I fully intend on making contact with them. They're essentially doing the same as us, winning over hearts and minds. Their FOB is located roughly 400 miles from here, at an area that we have identified as Alnus Hill, a holy site for the Falmartians. The Sixth Recon is the closest to them, correct?"

"Yes, General."

"Good. Tell them to scout down to Alnus after they've reached Rondel. Get a drone to resupply them."

* * *

**Imperial Capital - Akusho / Red Light District**

Corporal Diaz peered through her scope from atop the mason building's rooftop. In her crosshair reticle was a man with a rather square face, with sideburns that ran from the bottom of his face to his hair. Bessara. The creme de la creme of the worst criminals in Falmart. This man did it all: rape, slavery, extortion, kidnappings. Think of the most fucked up thing and Bessara's guaranteed to have done it at one point. For the past few days, Diaz and the rest of her squad had monitored Bessara, after one of their squad members was assaulted by his men. Of course, they all failed miserably when trying to kill him. For their bravery, they were rewarded with a 9mm headache.

Bessara poked his head out of a window on the third story of the building he was on and yelled an order to his henchmen.

"Teach those outsiders a lesson!" Bessara gestured to a building to his left.

As he ordered, several elven archers fired flaming arrows at the building, saturating it with flames within a fraction of a second.

_No way anyone could have survived that._

After the saturation attack, a man with four arms raced towards the door of the building, mace in hand.

_I feel sorry for those poor bastards in there._

Just as the four-armed man was sprinting down the street into the building, a door opened. Diaz would faintly see what appeared to be a black cylinder in the shadows.

Then, the four-armed man's head was blown off with a shotgun. He died instantly, his body collapsing onto the ground in front of the door.

An eerie silence dawned on the henchmen standing in the street, as they saw him collapse onto the ground.

_What the fuck?_

"What?" Bessara's voice had a trace of growing panic in it, mixed with confusion.

Suddenly, a wolfman fell face-first into the dirt street, attracting even more panic. On his back, a slowly emanating bloodstain had appeared.

All of the windows on the building opened up.

Then all hell broke loose.

The automatic fire raked from side-to-side, killing dozens in the blink of an eye. From the rooftops, Diaz could make out the silhouettes of men in green, firing downwards at the crowd in the street. She took cover, fearing for her life.

Diaz activated the mic on her ICS helmet.

"ASSASSIN 5, WE HAVE CONFIRMED GUNFIRE AT MY LOCATION, OVER!"

* * *

*** - Infantry Communication System: similar to a real-life Land-Warrior helmet.**


	6. Revelation

**20 miles from Bellnahgo**

She woke up in a cold sweat, her ears protruding and her head shooting up as she did.

_Where the hell am I? What the hell happened? Why am I here?_

She looked around her, revealing to her shock, a tightly enclosed place in somewhere in what she assumed to be a wagon, due to its rhythmic movements. A dull hum constantly protruded her ears, indicating to her that this was no ordinary wagon. Around her were two humans, one male, and one female, each wearing a strange dull-green helmet decked with a visor covering both of their left eyes, along with clothing that appeared to be stained very badly with dirt and grass. The two humans sat on two benches, each across from each other in the truck-bed. Each had an alarmed expression on her face.

_Who are these people?_

The bunny-woman quickly shot herself up, managing to stand without difficulty on the moving truck-bed. One of the humans had instinctively moved back, while the other woman simply sat there, holding a small dagger in her hand.

_That's my dagger! These people intend to take my dagger and with it gone, I'll have no way of stopping them!_

The bunny-woman grabbed her dagger from the other woman's hand, nearly injuring the other woman in the process. The woman let out a cry of pain while the man reached for something black in his vest.

She grabbed the other woman with her free hand and pulled the woman towards her, placing the sharp edge of the bone and iron dagger towards the woman's neck.

"LE-LET ME FREE," She spoke. "OR I'LL KILL HER!"

The woman screamed.

The man shouted something incomprehensible behind him.

**xxx**

Irving was not having a good day at all. He had to sit in the back of the supply truck in the convoy to accompany the medic.

Additionally, he had to supervise her as she worked on the unconscious bunny woman. If there's anything he hated, he hated doctors. A doctor had falsely diagnosed him with a fatal disease once and he thought he was going to die. He had even written what he thought was his final thoughts and planned to give it to his mother. That was until he saw the doctor being arrested for negligence and scamming patients on the local TV. He quickly realized that his doctor was a piece of shit liar.

That belief has soon carried onto all doctors he met, even if he had never said it directly to their faces.

_Why can't I just go shotgun with the Sergeant..._

A few feet away, Alexandra had bent down from her seat to take out a dagger from the bunny-woman's hands. It required so much force to pry open the hands that she was seriously considering asking for the Australian's help.

_Appears to have a concuss-_

As she prepared to put away the knife in a plastic bag, a loud thud from her left side had alerted her.

The bunny-woman had awoken and was standing in the truck-bed. She was wearing a dirt-stained black and white maid dress. Alexandra could faintly make out a few specks of dried blood on it.

Her face was clearly one of anger, an anger so hot that it could literally melt through Alexandra.

As the bunny-woman stared at her, her eyes narrowed on Alexandra's right hand. More specifically, it narrowed on the dagger she was holding.

It didn't take Alexandra long to figure out that the bunny-woman was probably angry that Alexandra had taken her weapon.

A hand soon wrapped around Alexandra's hand with an iron grip, nearly crushing her wrist. It quickly flicked down, making her fingers release from the dagger in the process. In one swift motion, the bunny-woman caught it as it dropped.

It menacingly gazed at her. Then, in under a single second, the bunny-woman grabbed Alexandra by her right hand and pulled her towards her, then put her right arm around Alexandra's waist, securing her tightly. She pointed a dagger at Alexandra's throat.

"IRVING!" Alexandra yelled, panic slowly creeping across her. "DO SOMETHING!"

Nearby, Irving reached for his side-arm, located in his right vest pocket.

He pulled out the pistol and cocked back the hammer, aiming it at the bunny-woman's chest.

"DRIVER-"

Irving never even got the chance to fire, as the bunny-woman swiftly kicked the pistol out of his hand onto the ground. Another quick kick to Irving's nose knocked him back against the chassis of the truck, not knocking him out, but definitely disorienting him.

He tried to reach for the pistol, only to find that a maid's shoe had stepped on his hand.

He turned his head up, only to find a pawed fist about to punch him in the nose. Then everything went black.

**xxx**

Johnson gripped his 7mm assault rifle, while Darris flanked him on the left, carrying an assault rifle as well. To his right was one of the Polish Army units that had accompanied the recon team, Stefan. Stefan was a grizzled veteran of Stettin, the scars on his broad face clearly showing so.

Roughly 4 minutes ago, their supply truck's driver had radioed out a distress call, claiming that the bunny-woman that they had rescued had taken Alexandra, the squad's medic, as a hostage. The whole convoy had stopped, intent on rescuing the hostages in the truck. A few mishaps later and Johnson was now leading a squad to retake the truck.

His hastily drawn up plan called for a squad to advance from both sides of the truck to ensure that the bunny-woman had not already escaped, then link up at the back and form a firing line. Johnson wasn't exactly trained for hostage situations and this was the best he could think of.

_Command's gonna fucking berate me for this, hell I'll probably be court-martialed for my incompe-_

"PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" barked Darris.

Johnson had gotten so distracted in his worries that he failed to notice that he already reached the back of the truck and the rest of his squad was forming a firing line.

The bunny-woman simply looked confused as she slowly edged the rest of the dagger to Alexandra's neck.

"They don't understand English, Darris!" Stefen yelled.

"Well, the fuck am I-"

Darris was interrupted as Johnson spoke a garble of incomprehensible language to the bunny-woman in a calm tone.

"Surrender yourself or we will use deadly force."

She simply chuckled.

"I am a Warrior Bunny, the finest of all the races, trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat. What do you think you can do to me?"

With no hesitation, Johnson aimed his assault rifle at her feet on the truck-bed and fired a round.

The material splintered and sent shards of wood flying at her.

She dropped her jaw in shock, dropping the dagger as well.

Johnson then aimed the rifle at her chest. It was risky to fire live rounds near hostages but Alexandra had already hopped off of the truck and ran behind the small firing line.

"Still thinking that you're the finest of all races?"

**xxx**

A few mishaps later and berating from Irving and now Johnson was sitting in the supply truck itself, interrogating the bunny-woman, accompanied by Darris on his right side, who was currently gripping an assault rifle.

"What's your name?" He asked in a caring tone, like a father comforting a crying daughter.

"M-my name is Tora..." The bunny-woman had managed to say while sobbing.

"I'm-I'm so sorry," The bunny-woman said in between her sharp crying. "I thought you would kill me or enslave me. I had to defend myself! You have to understand..."

"It's ok, ma'am," Johnson replied in a caring tone, attempting to comfort her. "Why did you think we were going to kill or enslave you though?"

"B-because the Imperials did the same thing to my village a day ago..."

Johnson began listening intently at that.

"What do you mean by that, ma'am?" He had adjusted a small button on the left side of his helmet and began activating his helmet's recording system.

"Th-the Imperials ransacked my town,"

"Ransacked?"

"They set fire to it and killed every single male in the town and, and..." She stopped for a few seconds, trying to recollect her thoughts.

The bunny-woman's crying had abruptly stopped, replaced instead by a cold, blank stare, which discomforted Johnson.

"Then they rounded up every single woman, even the younger ones, and..."

She stopped speaking. Johnson didn't take long to infer that they were probably kidnapped and raped. That explained the absence of women in the burnt out village they had searched.

_The Colonel's gonna want to know about this._

* * *

**Imperial Capital**

**A few days earlier**

"Your Majesty, we expect 100,000 casualties in total among the nations."

Count Marcus's hunched figure stood before Emperor Molt in his vast, luxurious throne-room, decorated with marble pillars on each side at irregular intervals. In front of him were several marble stairs, which lead up to Molt himself, who sat in an opulent throne topped with the finest fabrics available. Behind him was the giant purple flag of the Saderan Empire.

"The defeated armies have been left without leadership and are to return home."

"All according to plan," Molt spoke in his deep, rich voice. "Our neighbors can no longer threaten the Empire."

Of course, he was talking about the Battles of Alnus Hill. Nearly 120,000 Imperial soldiers, along with troops from several other vassal kingdoms, had died there. All had been slaughtered by the JSDF.

"Burn every village and town from Alnus to the Imperial Capital. Poison their wells and take their food and livestock. That will stop any army and leave them vulnerable."

"Scorched earth tactics, I see," Marcus responded. "I worry about defectors and the loss of tax revenue. And what about the other army at Aquila?"

"Tell our surviving forces to burn every village from there to Bellnahgo," Molt said, once again stroking his beard. "And I would like to hear more about these so-called defectors."

"There are motions to have you recalled within the Senate, beginning with Marquess Casel," replied Marcus.

Molt chuckled as he heard Marcus speak.

"This is a good opportunity to take care of the Senate in one fell swoop. Let us order the Council to investigate."

After he was done speaking, the loud creak of a door opening reverberated throughout the room. Several footsteps soon followed.

"Your Majesty!" She called out.

Marcus turned around, only to see Pina in her knight armor, pacing up the red carpet on the floor.

"My daughter," Molt spoke, this time as a mentor figure. "What do you need?"

"It's about Alnus and Aquila, of course."

Marcus perked his eyebrows up.

"I have learned that the Imperial Army has been crushed at both Aquila Hill and Alnus Hill by enemy forces. Both occupy the holy grounds of the Empire. What are you doing at a time like this?"

"We will use this opportunity to take back both places," replied Marcus.

Pina turned around.

"What complacency!" Pina shouted. "That will not help us stop the enemy invasion!"

"Pina, you are correct," Molt's voice resonated across the room, attracting Pina's attention. "But we are far too ignorant regarding both of our enemies."

"This is perfect. Could I ask you and your order to scout out the enemy's position at Alnus Hill?"

"Me? With my order?"

"Indeed. If your order is more than your plaything, of course."

Pina took offense to that but did not say anything else.

"Your majesty, I understand."

* * *

**Tarsha Village**

The markets were busy, as they always were, at this time of year. In the bustling village center, dozens of merchants had stalls set up, selling goods from lands-faraway, food, or sculptures made by artisans. Of course, you could only afford these things if you had the money to. Around the markets, dozens of commoners and nobles were lining up to buy these goods, crowding much of the town center.

And of course, intelligence operative John Walker had the money to buy all these things. John himself was dressed in basic robes, one that most commoners or low nobles would wear, while his suppressed side-arm sat underneath the robes, ready to be fired. A large bag of coins was in his pocket, ensuring that he had enough money to buy anything he wanted. A hood covered most of his head, obscuring the earpiece he was wearing.

He paced through the large crowd in the village center, budging and nudging several people many times. Some had thrown insults at him but he didn't mind it as he continued pacing through the town.

Around him, stone buildings topped with wooden roofs surrounded the market area, with the local village guard being posted up in them. He was outnumbered, but definitely not outgunned.

As he advanced through the market area, he noticed that merchant stalls began to appear more infrequently, before completely disappearing. The crowd itself began feeling more dense, tighter, and packed, as he advanced into the center of the crowd.

In front of him, dozens of people held their bags of golden coins, screaming at something which he couldn't see.

_Wonder what they're making such a fuss about..._

As he budged his way into the center, he saw several rusty iron bars, all protruding from what he presumed was the ground, and all the bars were connected to each other with a horizontal iron bar which laid across the center of the vertical ones.

He then realized.

_It's a cage._

As the realization dawned on him, he heard a language that he did not hear for days at this point.

English.

Amidst the Saderan yelling and hollering, John noticed a single, meek voice speak out in English.

"Please..."

_Please don't be what I think it is..._

John finally budged and nudged his way to the center of the crowd, and what he saw horrified him.

A woman, in dirty mud-stained rags, bruises on her face, and dirt in her hair, sat in a cage. Her hands clenched to an iron bar on the right and left side, while she laid her back idly on the front side of the cage. She reached out her hand towards the crowd as if she was asking for forgiveness or mercy.

The crowd simply laughed, with some even offering up golden coins to buy her.

"Please... Help me..."

_Fuck._

John quickly ran from the center of the crowd, intent on informing his commanders what he had just seen. After a few seconds, he found a secluded place in an alleyway between a hut and a stone building.

He activated his hidden microphone and began to speak into it.

"This is Bravo Two to Bravo 6 Actual, do you copy Bravo 6 Actual?"

"This is Bravo 6 Actual. Go ahead, Bravo Two."

"Bravo 6 Actual, I've confirmed the presence of enslaved American civilians. Over."

* * *

**This is a relatively shorter chapter, but don't worry. I've been procrastinating a bit, but don't worry, writing schedule is back on track.**


	7. Brief Notice

I may revive this story. Updates will probably be very erratic, but a possible revival is likely.

Also, check out BigBadAud666's story if you haven't.


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